A Virginia man has been charged with second-degree homicide after fatally taking pictures a young person who was filming a prank for TikTok often known as “ding dong ditch” with two mates round 3 a.m. on Saturday, based on courtroom data and native authorities.
The Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Workplace responded to a report of a resident firing photographs throughout a housebreaking, and located two youngsters with gunshot wounds, the workplace stated in a press release. One of many youngsters, Michael Bosworth Jr., 18, later died of his wounds. The second particular person was handled for minor accidents, and a 3rd particular person within the group was unhurt, the sheriff’s workplace stated. The 2 mates with Mr. Bosworth have been each below 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 includes ringing doorbells or knocking on the entrance doorways of homes earlier than operating away, and has turn into 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 number of doorways within the space, one of many youngsters informed a detective, including that they weren’t acquainted with the neighborhood. They have been operating away from a residence after they have been shot, based on the affidavit. A minimum of one video exhibiting the youngsters doing the prank was nonetheless on one of many mates’ telephones, the affidavit stated.
The authorities arrested Tyler Chase Butler, 27, of Spotsylvania County, on Tuesday on prices of second-degree 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 Faculty in Fredericksburg, Va. The highschool, which was set to carry its commencement for seniors on Might 13, despatched a message to the varsity group that counselors could be out there to assist grieving college students.
A spokesman for the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Workplace, reached by telephone, 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 model of prank has led to tragedy previously. In 2020, a person in California crashed right into a automotive of six youngsters, killing three of them, after they performed an identical prank on him. He was sentenced to life in jail in 2023.
On Tuesday, a gaggle of scholars gathered on the soccer subject at Massaponax Excessive Faculty to recollect their classmate, based on a video shared by an Instagram account run by college students from the varsity. 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.
