OMAHA, Neb. — A 12-year-old murder suspect was arrested hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime where a man was gunned down while allegedly trying to sell marijuana to three teens who turned on him.
U.S. Marshals Service announced late Tuesday that Jarrell Milton had been taken in custody, KETV reports. He was found in Minneapolis, more than 300 miles north of Omaha, Neb., where Jamymell Ray, 31, was killed on June 29. It was not immediately known how the pre-teen traveled so far in just over a week.
Ray and Charles Fisher, 30, were struck by gunfire near North 24th Street and Redick Avenue, police said. Ray died at a hospital, while Fisher was treated and released.
Jarrell Milton, his brother Jamar E. Milton, 17, and Shuntayvious Primes-Willis, 15, are all accused in Ray’s death. The two older suspects each face a charge of first-degree murder, KETV reports.
KETV reports that Fisher met with the trio to sell them marijuana, but the boys tried to rob him and ended up shooting Ray.
“All three suspects had guns,” Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said. “Two guns (were) recovered. To have young people at this age involved in that kind of violence is very troubling.”
Prosecutors said they believe the shooting was gang related and plan to try the boys as adults, though there is some question as to whether the law would allow them to prosecute the younger Milton in adult court.
The slain man’s girlfriend told KETV that Ray would “break his neck to do anything for me, his children, his mom, his brother, even people on the street.”
Russien Cherry said she wants justice for her boyfriend.
“No, I don’t feel bad for them,” Cherry said of the suspects, talking to KETV. “They did grown-people acts, so they should be treated like an adult.”
Omaha police tweeted a photo Monday of the young suspect, which was retweeted more than 2,000 times by users astonished by the boy’s age and the severity of the charges against him.
The victim’s girlfriend said she, too, was shocked.
“How is a little baby going to have a gun?” Cherry told KETV. “Either he was already a thug, (his mother) doesn’t care — something, but it doesn’t make sense.”
