Florida teen beat friend to death with baseball bat, police say
LAKE WALES, Fla. — A Florida sheriff says a 16-year-old boy who apparently was jealous that another teen was in a relationship with a girl he liked, invited the boy to smoke marijuana in the woods before bludgeoning him to death with a baseball bat.
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference Tuesday that the teen beat 15-year-old Giovanni Diaz in the face and head Monday afternoon. Judd says the teen then ran into a witness, asking what he should do. The witness told him to call 911, which he did.
Judd says the teen told deputies he hit the boy in self-defense before finally confessing to the crime.
The teen has three previous battery charges, two of which were on Diaz.
He faces charges of first-degree murder and marijuana possession. It was not clear if he had a lawyer.
