Teen robber charged with murdering former boxing champ O’neil “Supernova” Bell
Teen robber charged with murdering former boxing champ O’neil “Supernova” Bell
An 18-year-old man has been charged with murdering former boxing champion O’Neil ‘Supernova’ Bell during a suspected armed robbery in Atlanta.
Tycorion Davis was charged yesterday and cops are now searching for more suspects, who shot Bell and another man as they were getting off a bus.
Bell died at the scene but the other man, who was said to have been dressed as a woman, is now recovering in hospital, police confirmed.
Atlanta homicide commander Charles Hampton said: ‘We’re still looking for one more individual, possibly two.’
He called the robbery in the 1800 block of Harbin Road in the southwest part of the city ‘a crime of opportunity,’ but did not disclose further details.
Bell’s mother Norma Bell told Channel 2 Action News that she was relieved an arrest had been made and wanted to know ‘what that young man was thinking about’.
‘He was the love of my life,’ she said of her son, adding that he told her he loved her every day.
She added: ‘Did he [Davis] call his mom every day and say, “Mom, I love you?” I would like for him to answer that question.’
Davis is also a suspect in other robberies in Clayton County and East Point, AJC.comreports.
Commander Hampton said that Davis had been co-operating with the police and had helped ‘fill in some of the gaps’.
Hampton also credited the public for ringing in with tips to help them arrest Davis after Bell was found lying in the street with a gunshot wound.
He had also been stabbed, WSB-TV reported, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police found a bag containing bundles of cash in the middle of the street after the incident, which happened at around 12.30am on November 25.
The second victim was shot once in the hip and is recovering in hospital. He told officers his purse and cell phone had been taken.
The pair were not known to each other but were both getting off the same bus, police said.
Four men pulled up in a red PT Cruiser, robbed the unnamed bus passenger and shot that man and Bell.
Bell, who born in Jamaica, had moved to Delaware at the age of five with his parents.
He moved to Atlanta in 1995, where he worked as a UPS driver before becoming a professional boxer, AJC.com reported.
He first fought under the name ‘Give ‘Em Hell’ Bell before changing his moniker to ‘Supernova’.
He was the former undisputed cruiserweight champion and held WBA, WBC and IBF cruiserweight titles before retiring in 2011.
In a career spanning 13 years, he recorded 27 wins (including 25 knockouts), four losses and one draw, according to BoxRec.com.
Anyone with information about the murder is asked to call Atlanta police.
