CHATHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - Fourteen year old Jack Sheeran IV appeared in court Monday and was later released from juvenile detention as he faces allegations that he attacked a 15-year-old Black boy after he and a friend invited the boy to go swimming at Goose Pond in Chatham in July.
The incident happened on July 19. On Monday, Sheeran and his father made a speedy exit from court.
“I don’t want to speak right now,” Sheeran said when asked for comment.
According to a police report, Sheehan and his friend used the N-word and threw rocks at the victim in this incident, who can’t swim and wore a life preserver in the water. The police report said Sheehan and his friend also allegedly tried to hold the victim underwater several times. When he said he couldn’t breathe, the police report said, one of the pair laughed at the victim and called him “George Floyd.”
In the victim’s handwritten statement, he told police “Jack asked me if I like my life to which (the other boy) responded I won’t once I’m drowning.”
A prosecutor this week argued Sheeran should remain locked up because he’s a danger to society, revealing Sheeran also allegedly punched another boy in the face just a few hours after the alleged attempted murder in July.
“He attacks another child and punches him because he’s Asian,” said prosecutor Eileen Moriarty.
Sheeran’s defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, minimized the seriousness of the new allegation and said it is reasonable to send a 14-year-old home under 24/7 lockdown with GPS monitoring and homeschooling to assure the safety of the community.
“Asian kid called him fat and he punched him,” Reddington said. “And then he called his family and he apologized and he spoke to the family and the family indicated that they were satisfied with that.”
The mother and sister of the victim in the alleged Goose Pond incident listened in court on Monday and left without making a comment. As court proceedings played out, they had dozens of supporters packing the courtroom.
“It was clear based on the fact that this person who is a perpetrator got released home with conditions that we needed to show a presence,” said Lynn Rhodes of the NAACP of Cape Cod.
Juveniles are normally shielded from public view in court cases. In this case, prosecutors are using the state’s youthful offender statute, which allows a defendant to be on camera in court, with his name made public.
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