A Florida teenager allegedly beat a 15-year-old boy to death with a baseball bat Monday afternoon, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.
During a news conference, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Dillen Murray, 16, was angry and jealous that the victim had relations with a girl he liked.
Deputies said they were called at about 2:45 p.m. to a wooded area near Lake Wales.
Investigators said Murray asked Giovanni Diaz to play with him in the woods, where he beat the boy.
"A witness who was in the area saw Dillen walking out of the woods, and Dillen told the witness that he just hit his friend with a baseball bat," a Sheriff's Office spokesman said. "The witness ran into the woods and found Giovanni."
Investigators said the two live in the same neighborhood.
"This child was brutally murdered by a 16-year-old with a baseball bat," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in an emailed statement. "There is no reasonable excuse for this. Zero. None. It should never have happened."
Murray was booked into the Juvenile Assessment Center on charges of first-degree murder, possession of marijuana less than 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Investigators said Murray was previously charged with two counts of battery against Diaz in March 2016, and one count of domestic battery against his father, Paul Murray, in March 2017.
The death remains under investigation.
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