Florida boy, 16, accused of beating friend to death with baseball bat
LAKE WALES, Fla. (WFLA) – A 16-year-old Polk County boy was charged with first degree murder after investigators say he beat a 15-year-old friend to death with a baseball bat.
The beating happened Monday afternoon.
According to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, Dillen Murray, 16, and Giovanni Diaz, 15, went into the woods, presumably to play.
Judd said that’s where Murray beat Diaz to death with the bat.
A witness who was in the area saw Murray walking out of the woods and Murray allegedly told the witness that he just hit his friend with a baseball bat.
The witness ran into the woods and found Diaz.
Murray allegedly told a deputy “he whaled on” the other boy with the bat, and referred to him as a friend.
“This child was brutally murdered by a 16-year-old with a baseball bat. There is no reasonable excuse for this. Zero. None. It should never have happened,” said Sheriff Judd.
Judd said the Murray has three previous battery charges, two of which were allegedly committed against Diaz.
Judd said detectives do not yet know why he killed the other boy and have no further details.
Murray was charged with First Degree Murder, Possession of Marijuana Less Than 20 grams, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Murray was booked into Polk County’s juvenile facility on Monday night.