Four Ohio boys face murder charges after someone threw a sandbag off a highway overpass that killed a 22-year-old man.
The four teens -- identified by the Toledo Blade as Pedro Salinas, 13; Sean Carter, 14; Demetrius Wimberly, 14; and William Parker, 15 -- were arrested and charged with murder, and vehicular vandalism in juvenile court. All of the boys denied the charges, and they're being held in juvenile detention.
Marquise Byrd, 22, was a passenger in a car on Interstate 75 in Toledo when a sandbag came crashing through the window. He suffered blunt force trauma in the incident and died at an area hospital. He was engaged and had a two-year-old son. The 9-11 call of the incident, which is in the video below, shows an anguished caller unsure of what just happened.
Four Ohio teens face murder charges after allegedly throwing a sandbag from a highway overpass. The bag hit the car that killed Marquise Byrd who was on I-75 in Toledo. https://t.co/0A0DkK4Qpq pic.twitter.com/w8vIXMxnB1
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) December 27, 2017
Authorities told the Toledo Blade the suspects threw objects off the highway overpass, and one officer spotted them leaving the scene. The vandalism charge stems from allegations that the boys also threw rocks at a passing car, though that driver was uninjured.
Lori Olender, deputy chief of the juvenile division of the county prosecutor's office, told the Blade her office is not considering charging the boys as adults.
"These youth have really no record whatsoever. So, it's honestly not crossing our minds that we would be able to get through the threshold that there's not enough time in juvenile court to rehabilitate them," Ms. Olender said.
Under Ohio law, if the boys are convicted, they could be held in juvenile detention until they're 21.
The case mirrors one in Michigan, in which five teenagers were charged with murder after allegedly throwing a rock off an overpass and killing a driver.
"It's not fun and games," Bill Dwyer, the Warren Mi. Police Commissioner, told CBS news. "People are losing their lives. And the consequences for these kids that think it's fun and games and a prank, they're going to go to prison."