Authorities say a man who fatally shot a teenager searching for a lost cellphone inside a gated Florida community will not face criminal charges.
The shooter, a man in his mid-20s, killed the high school freshman on Sept. 20 at a Tampa apartment complex, according to the Tampa Police Department and the Tampa Bay Times. The boy was identified by his family as 15-year-old Heitor Amaral.
After conducting what police described as a “comprehensive review of the evidence,” investigators said Thursday that they could not charge the unidentified resident who fired the gun.
Amaral had misplaced his cellphone earlier that day and later joined two friends in an effort to find it. Police said the teens used tracking signals from the phone to locate it at the complex on River Willow Place.
The group entered through an open gate and parked a truck in the roadway as they searched for the missing device.
After the teens agreed to move the truck at a resident’s request, they began knocking on doors and asking questions. When no one answered at one home, they entered an enclosed rear patio and struck a glass sliding door, police said.
The resident told investigators that he put on a mask and retrieved a gun to frighten the teenagers away. As two of the boys ran, a “physical altercation” allegedly began between Amaral and the man.
The resident said Amaral put him in a headlock, prompting him to fire one round because he feared for his life.
The bullet critically wounded Amaral, who died at the scene from his injuries.
Tampa police submitted their investigation to the state attorney’s office. Prosecutors concluded they would be unable to disprove the resident’s claim that he shot the teenager in self-defense.
“We recognize the profound pain and concern this tragedy has caused for the family and friends of those involved, and for our entire community,” the police department said in a statement.
Police did not publicly identify the victim. His sister, Maysa Amaral, told the Tampa Bay Times that Heitor, who had recently begun his freshman year of high school, was the teenager killed in the shooting.
Yessenia Gonzalez, whose 16-year-old son Julio was with Amaral that day, disputed the account of a confrontation. She said the teenagers were running when the resident opened fire and that no physical fight had taken place.
“I want the truth out there,” Gonzalez told the newspaper. “There was no fighting. These kids had no weapons.”
“My son said, ‘I don’t know what scared me more, the guy wearing a mask in his own house or the gun,’” Gonzalez added. She said Julio described the shooter as appearing to have “a new toy” and “jumping up and down” as though he was eager to use the weapon.
Gonzalez and Maysa Amaral also said Heitor was short and slim and not someone who would have initiated a fight.
The grieving sister described Heitor as the youngest of three siblings. She said he regularly did his chores, loved video games and enjoyed riding an electric bicycle given to him by his father.
“He was such a good kid,” Maysa Amaral said. “He absolutely did not deserve what happened to him.”
A GoFundMe campaign created by Amaral’s sister to help cover funeral expenses and legal costs for the family had raised more than $6,000 toward its $10,000 goal.
“I want people to know that my brother was a loving and caring kid who had so much more life ahead of him, and now he is resting,” the fundraiser said.
