December 30, 2024
John Sheeran, Who Attempted To Drown Black Teen While Being Called ‘George Floyd,’ Pleads Guilty
This should never happen to anyone.....
John Sheeran, the 15-year-old white youth who tried to drown a black teen in a Cape Cod pond while a friend labeled the victim “George Floyd,” entered a guilty plea to the crime, The New York Post reported.
Sheeran pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon charges at Barnstable Juvenile Court in Massachusetts after a judge decided to try him as an adult. The judge charged the alleged accomplice with harassment for laughing and jeering at the victim while he begged for his life, but will be charged as a juvenile.
The crime took place at a pond in Chatham, Massachusetts, in July 2023 when Sheeran allegedly kept dunking the Black teen under the water, while the heckler laughed and called him “George Floyd,” as the victim kept saying he couldn’t breathe. The unidentified Black teen claims he continuously told the then 14-year-old, who was throwing rocks at him, and his friend that he could not swim and needed to wear a life jacket but was pulled underwater four or five times.
The accuser alleges Sheeran called him the n-word, while the friend “started laughing and called me George Floyd, obviously making fun of me and showing no remorse.”
A witness told police he heard the victim telling Sheeran “to please not splash or push him because of his inability to swim,” but the pair kept “pushing [the victim’s] head underwater” while he was “screaming for help. “When I finally got to them, they were smirking,” the witness, also a minor, said in a statement.
In 2023, when Sheeran was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury and ordered to be held without bail, his attorney said the charges were “over the top” and labeled the crimes a classic case of “boys being boys,” calling it “horseplay” between kids that “got out of control.”
According to The Cape Cod Times, the names of the juveniles accused were not released, but due to the severity of the charges, the case is public based on Sheeran’s status as a “youthful offender” and will be tried in juvenile court.
While appearing in court, Sheeran’s lawyer says his client “had absolutely no intent to murder his friend.”
At the time of the incident, the news shook the Chatham community, causing the town’s select board and the Monomoy Regional School District to release a statement denouncing the crime and reinforcing their stand for diversity and inclusion.
“We are disturbed and saddened to learn of the event that occurred earlier this summer between juveniles,” the select board said in a statement.
“We do not believe that it reflects the true nature of our community, which is diverse and inclusive. We condemn all acts of violence, particularly those directed at children.”
Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 15, 2025.
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