TAMPA, Fla. — It’s been two months since a teenager was shot and killed in the home of a Tampa Police officer, and then, just a couple of weeks ago a teen died after being shot with a BB gun.
- Cases involve Bradley Hulett, 15, Ivan Johnson, 17
- No charges filed in either case; parents want to know why
- No arrests; Tampa police not commenting
There haven’t been any charges filed in either case and the parents of the victims want to know why.
Our Spectrum Bay News 9 legal analyst, Kevin Hayslett, who is not representing anyone in either of these cases, but is familiar with both, said there could be one underlying factor, and the blame could fall on the parents’ of the shooters.
“Can there be an accidental shooting? Absolutely. Can it be noncriminal? Absolutely,” said Hayslett when asked about these two cases.
The first involves the death of 15-year old Bradley Hulett. Authorities said he was shot to death by another teenage boy while playing video games at a Tampa Police officer’s home. The case is now in the hands of the State Attorney’s office to determine how it should be handled.
Hayslett said prosecutors are likely looking at two options: focus on the shooter, or look into whether the TPD officer secured his firearm properly.
“Until you’ve lost a family member you can’t begin to understand. I can’t understand. We can’t understand what it’s like to lose a family member, and then feel like there’s no justice. I mean, that’s horrible, that’s horrible for them, but unfortunately, part of the prosecutors job is to rise above the emotion and make a factual decision based on the law,” said Hayslett.
The second case involves the death of 17-year old Ivan Johnson. On February 1, authorities said Johnson was sitting in the passenger seat of a car in a bank’s parking lot with an adult neighbor driving, and an 8-year old boy in the backseat. Police said when the adult went to use the ATM, the 8-year old grabbed a BB gun from the backseat, it went off, and hit Johnson in the eye. He died days later from his injuries.
Tampa Police aren’t commenting on the case and no arrests have been made. Hayslett said given the facts currently known, authorities likely won’t charge the 8-year old boy. He also said holding the adult accountable for not securing the BB gun could be tough, because under Florida law, it doesn’t meet the felony charge definition of a firearm.
“I would think the State Attorney would say we’re probably not going to charge an 8-year old with this criminal charge because they’re 8, which is sort of not a thing in today’s society. We always want someone to pay for it, but this is probably just a tragic accident,” said Hayslett.