A white juvenile has been indicted on attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon charges after he allegedly tried to drown a Black youth in Chatham, Massachusetts. The near-fatal incident unfolded on July 19 at Goose Pond, according to a Boston 25 News report.
Cape & Islands District Attorney Robert J. Galibois said the 14-year-old, another white teen, and the victim all met at the pond. The suspect is accused of cornering the victim, picking up a rock, threatening to harm the Black youth, and calling him the N-word before forcing him into the water. The victim disclosed that he was unable to swim and put on a life vest. The three boys then entered the pond, where things quickly took an even more sinister turn.
The suspect is accused of then pulling on the life vest and forcibly submerging the Black boy underwater, making it nearly impossible for him to breathe, at least four to five times. All the while, the second juvenile reportedly looked on in laughter and mocked the boy by calling him George Floyd. As widely reported, Floyd, 46, experienced respiratory distress when former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for several minutes, resulting in his death in 2020.
The DA says the ordeal grew more grim when the teen swam beneath the boy and began to pull at his feet in an attempt to drown him. A nearby bystander heard the boy’s calls for help and rushed to his aid. The unidentified Samaritan is said to have grabbed the boy and carried him back on shore.
“After a dangerousness hearing in the Barnstable Juvenile Court on Aug. 31, 2023, the juvenile defendant was found dangerous by Judge Sylvia Gomes,” said the DA in a press release. According to state law, all proceedings for the charged juvenile will be public.
“Records of a youthful offender proceeding conducted pursuant to an indictment shall be open to public inspection in the same manner and to the same extent as adult criminal court records,” states the general law’s section pertaining to the protection and care of children. The suspect, who is described as being “known to the court,” was denied bail on Aug. 29. He is due back in court on Sept. 13 for a pretrial hearing at Barnstable Juvenile Court.