TAMPA, Fla. — UPDATE (Nov. 2, 2021): An agreement has been reached in the case, and prosecutors have determined the gun had a defect. Click here for updated information.
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A 15-year-old accused of shooting another teen in a Tampa police officer's home will now be prosecuted as an adult, according to the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office.
The move comes just days after manslaughter charges were added in the shooting death of Bradley Hulett, 15.
The State Attorney's Office announced Friday that Christopher Bevan, 15, was charged manslaughter with a firearm in the Dec. 13 shooting. On Monday, court records confirmed Bevan would be facing the first-degree felony charge as an adult.
According to investigators, Bevan, and three other teenage boys -- including an officer's son -- were inside the home, after school, on Bridgewalk Drive in Fish Hawk when the shooting took place.
The officer’s son went into his father’s master bedroom, which was locked, to use the bathroom because the only other one was being used, the State Attorney’s Office explained. According to law enforcement, the officer’s son picked the lock with a paperclip.
A short time later, investigators said the boy went back into his dad’s bathroom to get a plunger when the group noticed a gun. Authorities say the officer’s son thought the gun was unloaded and removed it from the holster.
Although there was no magazine in the gun, there was one bullet in the chamber.
While Hulett was in a bedroom playing video games, the three others entered with the gun, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
That's when Hulett was accidentally shot in the head. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office proceeded to charge Bevan.
The State Attorney’s Office said there are two legal issues at hand: One being the killing of a teenager and the other being the storage of the gun.
Investigators do not believe anyone meant to kill a friend and said the evidence clearly shows that it was a “tragic accident where all the boys mistakenly believed the gun was not loaded.”
As for the second potential crime, investigators do not believe the officer’s storage of the gun meets the criteria of a crime.
The State Attorney's Office says the officer told his son not to go into his bedroom, locked the door and kept the gun in a safety holster. Prosecutors go on to say the boy’s father had no reason to believe his son would get the gun because there were no behavioral problems in the past.
The State Attorney’s Office concedes that the gun was not locked in a safe, and the master bedroom door could have been unlocked easily.
However, under Florida law, the attorney’s office says the teen’s access to the weapon must have been “likely” and not just “possible.” And, the father’s belief was that the gun was secure must have been “unreasonable,” and not just “mistaken," a statement from the State Attorney's Office says.
The State Attorney’s Office is not pursuing charges for the officer.
Records show Bevan was released from jail Wednesday night on a $15,000 bond.
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