12-year-old Florida boy arrested in killing of homeless man

A 12-year-old boy has confessed to shooting a homeless man in the head and leaving him to die on a Jacksonville, Fla., street, law enforcement officials announced Thursday.

The boy told Jacksonville County sheriff’s investigators that he shot 54-year-old Thomas Trent in the head near an abandoned business on 103rd Street last month, Assistant Chief Chris Butler said during a news conference.

Butler did not offer a motive for the killing.

“The best way to describe it is a horrible, spontaneous event,” he said.

Police officers discovered Trent’s body around 7 a.m. June 28, and video from nearby businesses captured images of two people who might have been involved in the incident, according to Butler.

Earlier this week, police identified a 16-year-old boy as one of the two people, and the teenager later implicated the 12-year-old, Butler said.

The 16-year-old had been arrested on an unrelated burglary charge. Police said he was not involved in Trent’s death.

The 12-year-old told police he used a .22 caliber handgun in the slaying. He will face murder charges, Butler said. The weapon has not been recovered.

The 12-year-old had one prior arrest on a burglary charge, Butler said. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney, or if the state’s attorney’s office had filed formal homicide charges.

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