Teen shot classmate in face, then sent friend a Snapchat selfie of himself posing with the body
Teen shot classmate in face, then sent friend a Snapchat selfie of himself posing with the body
A Pennsylvania teenager has been charged with murder after he allegedly shot a classmate then posed for a selfie with the victim’s body and sent the image to a friend.
Maxwell Morton, 16, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case of 16-year-old Ryan Mangan, who died of a single gunshot wound to the face, and was discovered by his mother in her home last Wednesday.
A picture was sent to one of Morton’s friends on Snapchat showing him posing in front of Mangan’s body which was slumped over in a chair, said police.
Morton has also been charged one count of possession of a firearm by a minor, according to WPXI.
Mangan, a junior at Jeannette High School where Morton was also a student, was found dead around 6pm on February 4 by his mother, Rebecca Murtland.
Investigators at the scene found a 9mm shell casing but a handgun was not discovered.
The day after Mangan was found, a mother of one of Morton’s friends told police her son received a selfie on SnapChat of the victim who was sitting in a chair with a wound to his face, according to the Post-Gazette.
Morton’s friend saved the image before it deleted itself, as SnapChat lets users send images that are removed from the recipient’s phone after a few seconds.
The friend’s mother also said her son received messages from Morton that said: ‘I told you I cleaned up the shells’ and ‘Ryan was not the last one’.
Following a search at Morton’s home, he confessed to shooting Mangan after police found a 9mm handgun hidden under the basement steps that matched the shell casing found at the scene of the murder, according to Triblive.
Morton’s phone will be examined for any other evidence and police are continuing to look for a motive in the shooting.
Mangan’s friends have gathered to comfort each other as they mourn his loss, and described him as a fun-loving guy who was goofy and funny.
His friend Taylor Wiltrout said she just wants justice served in the case.
She said: ‘That would be the most important thing. That’s what he would want. He would want all of us to continue on and go on like he’s still here and do what we planned on doing.’
A funeral mass is scheduled for Mangan on Monday at 10am in Sacred Heart Church, and he will be laid to rest during a private burial in Sacred Heart Cemetery.
