A Virginia man has been charged with second diploma homicide after fatally capturing a teen who was filming a prank for TikTok generally known as “ding dong ditch” with two pals round 3 a.m. on Saturday, in response to courtroom data and native authorities.
The Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Workplace responded to a reportof a resident firing photographs throughout a housebreaking, and located two youngsters with gunshot wounds, the workplace said in an announcement. One of many youngsters, Michael Bosworth Jr., 18, later died of his wounds. The second individual was handled for minor accidents, and a 3rd individual within the group was unhurt, the sheriff’s workplace stated. The 2 pals with Mr. Bosworth had been each underneath 18.
The youngsters had been within the neighborhood to make a TikTok video, certainly one of them informed investigators in an affidavit filed in Spotsylvania Circuit Courtroom. A “ding dong ditch” prank entails ringing doorbells or knocking on the entrance doorways of homes earlier than operating away, and has turn out to be standard fodder for social media movies.
“The juvenile suggested it’s one thing that persons are doing to placed on TikTok,” the affidavit stated.
The group had knocked on a couple of doorways within the space, one of many youngsters informed a detective, including that they weren’t aware of the neighborhood. They had been operating away from a residence after they had been shot, in response to the affidavit. A minimum of one video displaying the youngsters doing the prank was nonetheless on one of many pals’ telephones, the affidavit stated.
The authorities arrested Tyler Chase Butler, 27, of Spotsylvania County, on Tuesday on prices of second diploma homicide, malicious wounding and use of a firearm within the fee of a felony, the sheriff’s workplace stated. He was being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail on no bond, it stated.
Mr. Bosworth was a senior at Massaponax Excessive College in Fredericksburg, Va. The highschool, which was set to carry its commencement for seniors on Might 13, despatched a message to the college neighborhood that counselors could be accessible to assist grieving college students.
A spokesman for the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Workplace, reached by cellphone, declined to remark additional. A lawyer for Mr. Butler didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark. G. Ryan Mehaffey, the Commonwealth’s Legal professional for Spotsylvania County, declined to remark however stated a preliminary listening to had been scheduled for June 18.
This type of prank has led to tragedy prior to now. In 2020, a person in California crashed right into a automotive of six youngsters, killing three of them, after they played a similar prank on him. He was sentenced to life in jail in 2023.
On Tuesday, a gaggle of scholars gathered on the soccer area at Massaponax Excessive College to recollect their classmate, in response to a video shared by an Instagram account run by college students from the college. They shared recollections about Mr. Bosworth and wrote messages on balloons earlier than releasing them at sundown.
Jonathan Wolfe and Michael Levenson contributed reporting. Susan C. Beachy contributed analysis.
