An Anthony teenager was arrested on manslaughter charges early Friday morning after claiming he accidentally shot and killed his 17-year-old girlfriend.
Marion County sheriff’s responded to an abandoned mobile home at 1676 N.W. 96th Street Rd. shortly after midnight after receiving a 911 call from 17-year-old LaVonte Jamaal Powell. He told the 911 operator that his girlfriend was “gone, not conscious and not breathing,” a sheriff’s office report states.
When deputies arrived, they were directed to a back bedroom in the mobile home, where they found the victim deceased with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. Deputies also located a black-and-silver firearm on the bed next to the victim, the report says.
As deputies conducted their investigation, Powell began making spontaneous utterances that he “(expletive deleted) up” and “it was an accident.” He then started walking away from deputies and was detained after he ignored their commands to stop, the report says.
After being read his rights, Powell said he and the girl had been dating for 17 months and had been staying in the mobile home with no electricity. Powell said they were in the bedroom when he began playing with a gun that he knew was loaded and accidentaly shot the girl. He was then placed under arrest and transported to the Juvenile Assessment Center, according to the report.