Florida children, 14 and 12, charged with attempted murder after shootout with deputies
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — A 14-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy are facing attempted murder charges after police say the children walked away from a group home, broke into a house and used an AK-47 and other guns in shootout with Florida deputies.
The girl was critically wounded, but she remained in stable condition Thursday at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, according to law enforcement. The boy made his first appearance in court, charged with attempting to murder a law enforcement officer.
Each have been charged with attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer and armed burglary of a dwelling, according to a charging affidavit. Now it is up to the State Attorney's Office, which received the affidavits on Thursday from the sheriff's office, to decide on what charges to file, and whether the children will be charged as adults.
The News-Journal, part of the Paste BN Network, is not naming either child because neither of them has been charged as an adult.
Authorities say the two children left the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise late Tuesday afternoon. Deputies found them after they broke into a home, according to the sheriff’s office. The children spotted the deputies outside and armed themselves with handguns, an AK-47 assault-style rifle and a shotgun they found in the home.
The children then opened fire on the deputies, according to the sheriff’s office. The deputies initially did not return fire and a supervisor can be heard on body camera video telling deputies to stay back and not approach the house as they tried to de-escalate the situation. The deputies later shot the girl after she pointed a shotgun at them.
The wounded girl can be heard crying on the bodycam video as deputies worked to save her life. A deputy can be heard calling her sweetie and asking her name.
Deputies fired a total of 60 shots, and eight deputies have been placed on administrative leave with pay pending the results of an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The 12-year-old boy went before Circuit Judge Michael Orfinger on Thursday for his first appearance.
'Like Bonnie and Clyde': Girl, 14, and boy, 12, use AK-47, other guns in shootout with Florida deputies
The boy stood quietly as Orfinger ordered he be held in secure detention for 21 days, according to video of the hearing. The boy's next hearing is June 23.
If charged as adults, the children could face up to life in prison, although since they are minors they would be entitled to have their sentences reviewed after 25 years.
The State Attorney’s Office can decide itself whether to charge the 14-year-old as an adult. But to charge the 12-year-old as an adult, the State Attorney's Office must get an indictment from a grand jury.
“We are in the process of conducting a thorough and comprehensive review of the cases involving the 12 and 14-year-old individuals accused of shooting at police officers. Once we have completed our review, we will disclose and discuss our charging decisions in more detail,” read a statement from Bryan Shorstein, executive director for 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s office.
Since January 2019, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office has responded more than 100 times to reports of missing people from the group home, , according to dispatch logs.
Deputies have also responded more than 30 times for assault and battery reports.
The incident prompted the Florida United Methodist Children's Home to issue a statement on Wednesday saying it was placing a moratorium on its Emergency Shelter Care program, which provides temporary residence for higher-risk children.
The sheriff’s office has received approximately 103 calls for missing persons and 34 for cases of assault and battery from the children’s home since January 2019, according to call logs from the sheriff’s office.
This is the second time this year that a serious incident linked to the children's home has made the news. A 14-year-old boy at the group home pleaded no contest last month to a charge of manslaughter in the death of a security officer. That teenager struck the security guard during an altercation in late March, according to the sheriff's office.
Representatives of the children's home did not return a phone call from the Paste BN Network on Thursday. The department of juvenile justice released a statement about the incident.
“The events that unfolded in Volusia County are tragic, and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) is thankful that there were no casualties as a result of this incident,” according to the statement sent by Communications Director Amanda Slama.
The DJJ said it does not operate The Florida United Methodist Children’s Home or other group homes in Florida and is not a part of the decision as to whether youth are placed in a group home, according to the statement.
“When a youth is arrested in Florida, the courts determine whether or not they are held in secure juvenile detention or released into the community to their parents, and in the case of a youth in foster care, back to their guardian,” the statement said.
The DJJ said it works with partners in the state’s juvenile justice system, including law enforcement, courts and attorneys to hold youth accountable.
“DJJ does not tolerate violence that jeopardizes the public safety of our communities,” the statement said.
The DJJ can only hold a child if he or she scores above a certain level on a detention risk assessment instrument. And whether a child is held or not, that child must appear before a judge within 24 hours. The judge then makes the final decision on whether to detain the child.