No charges for teens who taunted drowning disabled man

COCOA, Fla. – Florida prosecutors say they aren’t charging a group of teens who taunted a drowning disabled man and recorded his death.

State Attorney Phil Archer released a statement Friday announcing his office’s decision not to criminally charge four juveniles and one adult for failing to help 31-year-old Jamel Dunn at a Cocoa retention pond last July.

Archer pointed out that no Florida law requires a person to provide emergency assistance under the facts of this case. Such a law was proposed during this year’s state legislative session but failed to pass.

Dunn’s death received international attention last year after a viral video showed the teens laughing at him as he drowned.

Cocoa Police Chief Mike Cantaloupe initially said no laws were broken but said several days later a misdemeanour charge of failing to report a death might apply.