John Sheeran, a white 15-year-old teen from Massachusetts, has pleaded guilty after being accused of nearly drowning a Black teenager in a pond. According to People, Sheeran is facing charges for attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon. The 15-year-old is charged as a “youthful offender,” meaning he could be sentenced as an adult.
Sheeran and another white minor allegedly bullied their peer at Goose Pond in Chatham, Massachusetts on July 19, 2023. According to the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office, the three minors entered the pond together after the Black teenager said he can’t swim. Per the attorney’s office, Sheeran “proceeded to pull on the victim’s life jacket and submerged him underwater four to five times, causing the victim breathing distress.”
“The third juvenile laughed at the victim during the attempted drowning and referred to the victim as ‘George Floyd,’” the attorney’s office alleged.
Prosecutors said Sheeran continued to bully the teen as he swam underneath his peer and tried to grab his feet. A bystander then heard the Black teenager and came to his rescue, prosecutors said.
Speaking to police, the bystander said the Black teen told Sheeran “to please not splash or push him because of his inability to swim.”
“When I finally get to them they were smirking,” the bystander said in a statement, per NBC10.
Investigators said the Black teenager reported the attempted drowning two days later. Meanwhile, prosecutors are describing the incident as “racially motivated.”
Sheeran’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, released a statement in Sept. 2023, saying his client “had absolutely no intent to murder his friend.”
“It was a stupid act that was carried way too far,” Reddington said at that time, per WCVB.
Sheeran is now awaiting sentencing on Feb. 5.
