Three teenagers from Florida, two girls and a boy, have been charged with killing one of their high school classmates using a sword and a knife.
Police said the classmates lured 18-year-old Dwight “DJ” Grant from his home and then stabbed him to death using the weapons. The teenagers were arrested last week, NBC News reported.
According to law enforcement, one of the girls restrained Mr Grant as the boy stabbed him while the second girl acted as a lookout. All three have been charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy and evidence tampering.
The 18-year-old was last seen on 17 October and was found dead two days later in Miramar, north of Miami. He was found in the bushes behind his apartment building, police told NBC South Florida.
Police say in an arrest affidavit that the charged teenagers – a girl aged 16, and a boy and a girl both aged 17 – conspired to trick Mr Grant into a trap and cooperated to commit the murder. After the killing, they reportedly collaborated to get rid of the weapons and clean up any evidence. Police said that since the accused are minors, their identities will not be released.
A 22 October affidavit for the teenagers’ arrest states that they were caught on surveillance footage leaving as a group, arriving at the home of Mr Grant, and luring him into an outdoor stairwell, where the 18-year-old was entrapped by the trio.
A text from the male said “murder was coming soon” to the victim. The 17-year-old girl, who was identified as the male’s girlfriend, “jokingly” said she could help, according to law enforcement.
The motive behind the gruesome murder was that Mr Grant had had sex with an unidentified girl that the 17-year-old male had an “emotional connection” to, police said a review of the teens’ text messages revealed.
Miramar High School Principal Loli Formoso tweeted: “May our forever Patriot Rest In Peace. Please pray for Dwight Grant’s family, friends and our community. I spoke with Ms Grant to offer our condolences on behalf of the Patriot family. We will have grief counsellors available on Thursday and Friday. We are here for you.”
Mr Grant reportedly walked down the stairwell with one of the girls and tried to run when the other two teens were waiting at the bottom of the stairs with the knife and sword, police say.
Surveillance footage shows that two teens waiting at the bottom of the stairwell took hold of Mr Grant and pushed him up against a wall.
“You know who I am and why I’m here,” the boy told Mr Grant, the affidavit states. As the 16-year-old girl pinned Mr Grant to the ground, the boy beat him and then stabbed him in the neck. Mr Grant then asked his classmates to “end it for him,” The Washington Post reported.
The 17-year-old boy stood over the bleeding Mr Grant and pushed the sword into his chest.
