A short time after 15-year-old Jontae Haywood was reported missing on Dec. 16, his body was found with a gunshot wound. Haywood was reported missing by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office at 11:30 a.m. on Dec. 15, and he was later reported missing early the following morning.
Death as Homicide
Police are asking members of the public to come forward with pertinent information about what happened to Haywood as deputies are looking into his death as a homicide.
Deputies learned that the former Sumter Prep Academy student might have been shot during the missing person investigation. However, when several sheriff’s office personnel gathered in the region and started looking in general Haywood’s last known location, his body was discovered, according to a people.com report.
The public is being urged to come forward with any pertinent information about what happened to Haywood, as the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office is currently looking into the boy’s death as a possible homicide.
The teen, who once attended Sumter Prep Academy, has a big dream and wants to work in the music industry, according to WESH-2. To raise money for Haywood’s funeral costs, a GoFundMe was created.
Operation Young Guns in Florida
According to data, 76% of all homicides in Florida involve gun violence, and from 2016 to 2020, Florida was ranked 22nd out of all states for having the highest rate of gun violence. Homicides accounted for 37% of all gun deaths during those years.
The government and law enforcement collaborate to resolve the troubling case in Florida and end it. Law enforcement displayed a tool that enables them to capture the distinctive markings on cartridges and bullet casings.
The demonstration occurred before a press conference where Operation Young Guns, which aims to combat the recent wave of violent juvenile crime, was unveiled by the sheriffs of the circuit’s four counties and the state attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit. Operation Young Guns will identify under-25 suspects in gun crimes, and they will be the focus of more zealous prosecution.
Since May, it has been in force, and According to R.J. Larizza, state attorney for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, 200 juvenile cases involving 190 defendants and 570 charges were prosecuted in the first six months.
