PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Prosecutors said Wednesday that they intend to charge a 16-year-old boy, who police said shot his friend in the head earlier this month inside a Pembroke Pines home, as an adult.
Nathan Jamil Walker faces multiple charges, including attempted manslaughter with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a juvenile.
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According to a probable cause affidavit, Walker and the 15-year-old victim were at Walker's house on Northwest 10th Street on June 1 when Walker retrieved a .380-caliber Ruger LCP hidden in his bed frame that he had purchased from an "unknown subject" about two weeks earlier for $230.
Police said Walker thought that he had removed the magazine, which contained five rounds of ammunition, when he pointed the gun's red laser pointer at the victim's forehead and pulled the trigger.
The bullet struck the victim between his eyes, causing several facial fractures and leaving a bullet fragment behind his right eye, with an additional bullet fragment at the base of his skull near his spine. The bullet also severed his carotid artery.
The victim was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital with critical injuries. Pembroke Pines Fire Rescue said the boy was conscious and answering questions when he was being taken to the hospital.
Detectives said Walker confessed to intentionally pulling the trigger while pointing the gun at the victim, but said he believed that the gun was unloaded.