COCOA, Fla. — Four teenagers and one adult who recorded a man’s drowning and laughed as it happened will not be criminally charged, the State Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
A passerby found Dunn’s body in a pond at Bracco Pond Park days after he had died, investigators said.
In the two-and-a-half-minute video, the teenage boys can be heard yelling, “We’re not going to help you and you never should have gotten in there.”
Read: Teens record, taunt drowning man in Cocoa; no charges filed, police say
There is no Florida law that requires a person to provide emergency assistance under the facts of this case, the State Attorney’s Office said.
Prosecutors had considered a charge of failing to notify a medical examiner of a death but said they could not appropriately apply it to the case without new legislation.
#Breaking: Nearly a year after the drowning death of 31-year-old Jamel Dunn. @SA18PIO announces there will be no criminal charges against the group of teens who police say taunted Dunn and recorded the incident. #WFTV
— Melonie Holt (@MHoltWFTV) June 22, 2018
At the time the video was taken, the group ranged in age of 14 to 18 years old.
Read: Cocoa police recommend charges against teens investigators said taunted, recorded drowning man
“I know that everyone was sickened by the callous disregard for human life exhibited by these young people. We can only hope that this was an isolated and rare circumstance that will never happen again,” said State Attorney Phil Archer. “Unfortunately, Florida law does not address this behavior and we are ethically restrained from pursuing criminal charges without a reasonable belief of proving a crime beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt.”
Cox Media Group
