Shawn Tyson, 16, has been accused of the murders
"It is very unusual to find tourists or visitors in this area... we do not know what brought them here at 3am" said Captain Paul Sutton, Sarasota police
Posted on 04/18/2011 1:03:09 PM PDT by Cardhu
Florida police have named the 16-year-old arrested for the murder of two British men who were shot dead while on holiday.
Sarasota Police confirmed a boy named Shawn Tyson was in custody accused of shooting dead James Cooper, 25 and 24-year-old James Kouzaris.
The bodies of the two young men were found in the early hours of Saturday morning in a rundown neighbourhood in the city, which is situated on the south-western coast of Florida.
The friends, who are former University of Sheffield students, were discovered by officers who were called to a residential street in the north of the city at around 3am.
Neighbours had reported hearing what sounded like machine gun fire.
One man was found lying on the ground outside a government-assisted housing block covered in blood.
The second victim was discovered moments later, lying 50ft away on the other side of the road.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene from gunshot wounds, a Sarasota Police spokesman said.
Tyson, who officers confirmed had previously arrested on April 7 for aggravated assault with a handgun, had not previously been named as he is a juvenile.
Prosecutors had been given 21 days to decide whether to try the suspect as a juvenile or an adult.
It is not known whether releasing the boy's name means he is now being treated as an adult suspect by police.
If convicted as a juvenile Tyson would not qualify for the death penalty, however, as an adult execution would be an option.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
"It is very unusual to find tourists or visitors in this area... we do not know what brought them here at 3am" said Captain Paul Sutton, Sarasota police
It’s getting to the point where if you make a wrong turn in this country, you could wind up dead.
Our politicians have failed us on every level, as has the so called “justice” system.
Since he’s one of Holder’s “people”, he’ll walk on this......
"It is not known whether releasing the boy's name means he is now being treated as an adult suspect by police.
The police don't make the determination about whether or not to charge juviniles as adults. That's a decision that is left solely to the prosecutor.
and..
If convicted as a juvenile Tyson would not qualify for the death penalty, however, as an adult execution would be an option.
No, irrespective if he's tried as an adult or not, since he committed the crime as a juvenile, he CANNOT be executed, or so held the Supreme Court in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).
It's a British paper, so perhaps word travels slowly across the pond.
Uhhhh --- drugs? prostitution? sociological research?
They were probably buying drugs, but perhaps they got lost. Kinda hard to do that in Sarasota but I guess its possible.
That look of defiance could only be wiped away with the butt of a pistol. You can tell he’s essentially an animal. There is no place in any society for someone like that......save Tripoli or the Ivory Coast.
When news of this broke this morning, the media was bending over backwards to not mention the race of the perp. I bet a friend twenty bucks it was a black kid. Some things are just to easy to peg, political-correctness be damned.
On the other hand, I would not be surprised if the two fellows who got jacked were there looking for something that you just don't get at the local 7-11. Just another hunch, but all part of a pattern that's been going on for decades... and is growing.
Well, whatever it was, it was definitely a very bad idea.
How does that one go about laying down with dogs???
Not sex, they’d stay near the beach bars if they were looking for hookers.
Most likely drugs. It doesn’t pay to mess with tourists around here though, the cops always come down really hard.
It’s surprising how naive some tourists can be...even 20 year-old university students.
The two young men are still murder victims and their families are grieving - so could we please hold all the speculation until the facts are known?
Reading the title I thought it was nearer to me. My take it was in Holiday, Florida, a place that’s not to great either in Pasco County.
Hate crime? Yeah, right (eyeroll) I’ve had it with these savages! They’re subhuman.
Gay couple looking to buy drugs? They think they are OK because they buy from black blokes at home
hate crime? no, they’ll rob and kill anyone who happens into their turf.
My, my, my ... le's jus' go ahead on an' try Shawn as a juvenile. Yeah, tha's the ticket. Shawn'll get some good councilin' while he's in the Big House, and den he'll get to come on home. He'll be a good boy after all dat. He shore will.
Not enough info to determine why they were in that neighborhood - they could have been carjacked and brought there...
My great uncle owned a little country store in Sarasota. I always loved to visit. Uncle Charley, cousin Bob and I would take off in Uncle Charlie's model A Ford "skeeter" and go ride the woods.
For those of Northern persuasion a "skeeter" had all but the absolutely essential parts removed, or rusted off, big tires, slick was best for running in sand, and it would skeet across soft sand and mud like a flat rock skipping on water.
We always had a cooler packed with Nehi orange soda, big dill pickles and Penrose hot pickled sausages, real survival food!
People keep trying to tell me how great progress is, they're wasting breath!
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