Teen Killed After Responding to Photo With a Laughing Emoji: Reports
Loved ones are mourning the death of a teen who was fatally shot after an argument online escalated beyond social media.
Isiah Fitzgerald, 18, was killed on April 25 in Missouri after an argument on Facebook allegedly between Fitzgerald and Tanner Watkins escalated, leading to the fatal shooting, the Sikeston Department of Public Safety confirmed with Inside Edition Digital.
“He was involved in track, basketball and football. Isiah was his own person. Headstrong, confident, self-assured and proud and loud- he like to make his thoughts known,” Fitzgerald’s obituary read.
Officers with the Sikeston Department of Public Safety responded to the scene after receiving reports of gunfire, according to a press release. Officers found a teen, who was pronounced deceased at a nearby hospital, and an 18-year-old girl who also was injured, police said.
The female victim suffered from life-threatening injuries and was brought to the hospital for treatment, the release said. A benefit account has been set up to help her family with travel and medical expenses.
Investigators on the case later arrested Tanner Watkins, 20, and Kaleb Ramsey, 18, in connection to the shooting, officials said.
Fitzgerald’s loved ones have publicly named him as the deceased in the April 25 shooting. Authorities have not identified the alleged victims in the incident.
Watkins and Fitzgerald had gotten into an argument on Facebook the day before to the shooting after Fitzgerald reacted to a photo of Watkins and a woman with a laughing emoji. Watkins then responded with “what’s funny” and an argument continued until they began saying they wanted to see each other in person, interactions on social media show.
Fitzgerald’s sister, Nyisha Fitzgerald, urged those close to Fitzgerald to not resort to violence in the wake of his death. “I don’t want anybody that isiah loved gone…prison or dead. I want to paint the sky the red but I have to go by court’s decision please don’t lose y’all selves, nobody wants that,” Nyisha wrote in a Facebook post.
Both Watkins and Ramsey have been charged with first-degree murder, three counts of first-degree assault, four counts of unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action, police said. Watkins and Ramsey are currently being held with no bond at the Scott County Jail and have both entered not guilty pleas, according to court records. Their next court date is for a bond reduction hearing and is scheduled for May 9, records show.
