Police: Miami teen harasses and kills homeless man
MIAMI - A teenager has been arrested for allegedly pushing a homeless man into a river and killing him, according to CBS Miami.
According to investigators, a 16-year-old boy was fishing with a friend along the Miami River on May 24th until about 2 p.m. when he spotted a homeless man sleeping next to a wall adjacent to the Miami River, says the station.
The teen and his companion reportedly woke up the homeless man and started harassing him. According to the arrest report, the homeless man stood up and the 16 year old proceeded to push the man into the river. He then allegedly stole the man's bag, hopped on his bike, and took off, reports the station.
A day later, Miami Police found the homeless man's body washed ashore at NW North River Drive and West Flagler St. The medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide, reports the station.
On July 7th, police interviewed the boy's friend who was there at the time of the incident, says the station, and authorities said the friend identified the homeless man in photo.
With this information, police arrested the teen on July 15th on second-degree murder charges.
According to CBS Miami, the teen's parents learned on Friday what their son had allegedly done. They said he is a good kid and couldn't believe he would hurt someone, let alone kill.
His parents said he has been living with his older brother and they hadn't seen him for a while, reports the station.
They also said the teen gets in trouble for fighting with others because he has some developmental problems and gets picked on and bullied at school.
According to the station, they said they tried to get the court system involved to put him in boot camp or some program to help him.