John Sheeran, the 14-year-old accused of attempting to murder a 15-year-old Black boy by drowning him in a pond, has been released from prison, CBS News reports.
Wearing a GPS monitoring device, Sheeran silently left the hearing with his father on Monday Sept 11. He is charged with Attempted Murder as a Youthful Offender which means his court proceedings are open to the public and he can be sentenced as an adult if convicted.
According to investigators, Sheeran called the boy the “N” word and then pulled him under the water four to five times. When the boy screamed for help, police say the other boy called him “George Floyd.”
The incident happened in July when investigators say Sheeran texted a Black boy to meet him at Goose Neck Pond in Chatham.
When the teen arrived, Sheeran and another boy threw rocks at him. Then, they allegedly asked the boy to get in the water. The boy did not know how to swim and wore a life jacket.
Sheeran stopped trying to pull the teen underwater when another child on the beach swam to intervene, police say.
According to District Attorney Eileen Moriarty, hours later Sheeran punched an Asian boy in the face after that boy called him fat.
As part of his release pending trial, a judge ordered Sheeran to be subjected to GPS monitoring, stay with his father, report to probation regularly, and stay away from potential witnesses in the case.
Sheeran’s lawyer claims his client is remorseful and reduces the incident to stupid horseplay that went too far.
The NAACP of Cape Cod and other community members were present for the hearing.