This story is incredibly heartbreaking and infuriating, and most of all: evil.
On July 9th, 32-year old Jamel Dunn – who is being described by his sister as “disabled” – worked his way into a restricted area near a Florida pond. According to local news reports, Dunn was apparently upset after getting into a fight with his fiancé. Some teenagers happened to be nearby watching this all unfold, but instead of being concerned, they decided to film the incident and make jokes about it.
As Dunn waded further in, he began to struggle. It was obvious he was drowning, but instead of calling 9-1-1 or physically trying to help Dunn survive – the teens continued filming while mocking and laughing at him.
They ranged in age from 14-16 years old, and cracked jokes as Dunn pleaded for help. They had been smoking pot all day.
“They were telling him they weren’t going in after him and that ‘you shouldn’t have gone in there.’ He started to struggle and scream for help and they just laughed. They didn’t call police. They just laughed the whole time. He was just screaming… for someone to help him,” Yvonne Martinez, Spokeswoman for the Cocoa PD.
The teens cannot be seen on the cellphone video, but they can be heard taunting the man with jeers like “you gonna die,” and “Ain’t nobody fixin’ to help you, you dumb f***!”
Dunn eventually went underwater one last time, even that didn’t cause the teens to realize the gravity of the situation.
“Oh, he just died,” one of them said, causing the others to burst out into laughter.
Dunn did indeed drown, his body not being found until three days after the tragedy. The teens didn’t even bother to phone it in to police.
Initially, police said that because technically they did not break any laws, charges seemed unlikely. That quickly changed, however, as during a press conference yesterday police announced charges were coming.
Not only did they decide to film instead of help, laugh instead of act, and post it online for their friends to see – they have showed no remorse whatsoever. According to Martinez, the teens still thought it was all a big joke.
“There was no remorse, only a smirk. The kids were at the park that day smoking marijuana and apparently saw him walk into the water. He walked in on his own. They were watching him. They just started recording what happened and watched until he died. Everybody is just horrified by this.”
Dunn was wearing a shirt that said ‘I’m Blessed’ along with a hat that said “Only God can judge me.”
Even if these teens escape justice today, the truth written on Dunn’s hat should be enough to wipe those smiles right off their smug little faces. Prayers that God changes their hearts before they meet that fate. And prayers to the Dunn family, including his fiancé whose last memory of her future husband was an argument. Also, for Dunn’s sister, Simone Scott, who is struggling with what happened:
“I agree they don’t have to help, but they should have called 9-1-1. My brother is disabled and walks with a cane…please make it make sense to me.”
If you’d like to help the family pay for funeral expenses and deal with this senseless tragedy, you can donate HERE. In just a few days, the goal of $30,000 has already been surpassed.