Police have charged a Pittsburgh-area boy with murder after he posted a selfie on Snapchat with the victim’s body.
According to various reports, police charged 16-year-old Maxwell Marion Morton with the fatal shooting of Ryan Mangan, also 16, in the face.
Morton then allegedly posed for a self-portrait with the body, which he sent to a friend via Snapchat.
Snapchat’s photo messages are designed to self-destruct once sent but, as most users know, there are loopholes around Snapchat’s auto-delete feature, such as taking a screenshot of the photo or using a third-party app to save pictures.
Morton’s friend apparently saved the Snapchat photo before it deleted itself, then showed the picture to his mother, who contacted the police.
“[Police] received a copy of the photo which depicted the victim sitting in the chair with a gunshot wound to the face,” reads a police affidavit, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
“It also depicts a black male taking the ‘selfie,’ with his face facing the camera and the victim behind the actor. The photo had the name ‘Maxwell’ across the top.”
Investigators searched Morton’s home on Friday and found a 9 mm handgun; in Mangan’s bedroom, police also found a 9 mm casing.
Morton, according to a police affidavit obtained by the Tribune-Review, confessed to Mangan’s murder after police found the weapon.
The teen is being held without bail and is being charged as an adult for first-degree murder, homicide and possession of a firearm.
Source: mashable.com