Florida teen charged with aggravated assault after being left paralysed by police shooting
15-year-old was armed and fleeing scene of car crash when shot by officer
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Your support makes all the difference.A Florida teen who was shot and left paralysed by a Miami-Dade Police officer has been charged with aggravated assault.
Vito Corleone-Venisee had previously been charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and resisting an officer without violence. The additional charge was handed down on Friday night.
The 15-year-old is also facing charges for failing to appear at two court dates late in 2021 relating to 2020 arrests by different law enforcement agencies for attempted burglary and robbery.
Mr Corleone-Venisee’s attorney Jarlens Princilis revealed the identity of his client, a minor, to local media.
“When you have a teenager whose back is facing the police officer, who is running away from the police officer,” said Mr Princilis, “We ask how could this teenager have possibly posed a threat to this officer to the extent that he has to use deadly force in making this arrest?”
Miami-Dade Police withheld the name of the officer under “Marsy’s Law” which characterises him as the victim and therefore shields his identity.
However, The Miami Herald cites law enforcement sources as confirming the officer is Luke Marckioli, an experienced and decorated veteran sergeant.
Mr Corleone-Venisee was shot on 16 January while police searched for a stolen vehicle amid a heightened law enforcement presence in the area following the shooting of a Brownsville rapper.
He and two others were in a 2021 Dodge Challenger and on their way to meet friends and show off their cars.
According to arrest reports and law enforcement sources, Police said the stolen vehicle, a Dodge Charger, was spotted next to the one containing Mr Corleone-Venisee. While they are the same make, a Charger is a four-door sedan and a Challenger is a two-door muscle coupe.
The Herald reports that when officers ordered the vehicles to stop, police said both cars took off and police gave chase. The Charger, the stolen vehicle, escaped. The Challenger eventually crashed through a fence and into a tree before coming to a stop.
Mr Corleone-Venisee and the two other occupants ran. While they got away, the teen was shot.
He is now paralysed from the neck down and recovering at Jackson Memorial Hospital.