White teen enters plea for trying to drown black boy while calling him ugly racial slurs
A white teenager accused of drowning his 15-year-old black “friend” while shouting horrific racial slurs has pleaded guilty.
John Sheeran, now 15, pleaded guilty earlier this week to attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in a Massachusetts courtroom, The Cape Cod Times reported.
The teen was charged as a “youthful offender,” which gives the judge the option to sentence Sheeran as an adult or a juvenile, according to Massachusetts state law.
His sentencing is set for February 5.
The near-fatal drowning occurred on July 19, 2023, at Goose Pond in Cape Cod after the unnamed black boy rode his bike to the lake to meet “friends,” even though the “friends” had other plans.
Upon arrival, the 15-year-old black boy was asked by his ‘friends’ to ride his bicycle into the lake before being told that the bicycle he got there with did not belong to him, but to his older brother.
Sheeran then reportedly started throwing rocks at the black boy, causing him to take refuge in the water even though he could not swim.
John Sheeran, now 15, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon in a Massachusetts courtroom earlier this week
The near-fatal drowning occurred on July 19, 2023 at Goose Pond (pictured) in Cape Cod after the unnamed black boy rode his bicycle to the lake to meet “friends,” even though the “friends” had other plans.
Sheeran repeatedly pushed the black teen underwater while shouting damning racial slurs and calling him a ***** and “George Floyd” — the black man killed by a Minneapolis police officer in a 2020 video that led to sparked protests around the world – all while throwing rocks at the struggling teen.
Sheeran also swam underwater to grab the drowning boy by his feet and pull him further down as witnesses looked on.
The nearly drowned teen continued to scream for help before another person on the beach heroically intervened and helped the troubled teen to shore.
“Water flowed into my mouth and nose and I couldn’t breathe,” the Black teen said in a written statement to police, NBC News reported.
The teen was charged as a “youthful offender,” which gives the judge the option to sentence Sheeran as an adult or a juvenile, according to Massachusetts state law. His sentencing is set for February 5
“So I screamed over and over that I couldn’t breathe and tried to get his hand off me.”
Cape and Island District Attorney Robert Galibois believes the 2023 attack was racially motivated as another boy has since also been charged with harassing the black teen.
Sheeran’s lawyer has tried to excuse his client’s actions, claiming the attempted drowning was “stupid” and “taken way too far.”
“I can assure you that this young man had absolutely no intention of killing his friend at this time. It was a stupid act that went way too far,” Kevin Reddington said during the hearing in September WCVB.