Black Teen, 16, Killed White Man, 22, Because He Was Having a Rough Day
Sixteen-year old Mychal King was so upset with his family on the night of Jan. 6, 2013 he wanted to "kill the first person he saw." So when Jason Taylor Paul, 22, rode up on his bike that fateful night, King stabbed him multiple times then left him in the street to become Clearwater, Fla.'s first homicide of 2013.
No one knew this of course, until Thursday when Clearwater Police announced the arrest of the 16-year-old who was 15 at the time he allegedly committed the ghastly deed, according to ABC Action News.
For month's Paul's parents, John and Renee Langfritz, had been drowning in grief and yearning for closure.
"We just don't understand it, we really don't," John Langfritz told ABC Action News of his son's death in January.
"We are pleading with the community to help solve this act of violence, this senseless murder against a young man who didn't deserve to die this way," Renee Langfritz also noted back then.
Her son was loving, funny, intelligent and hardworking. Who could have done this to him and why? The only response she could come up with to those questions back then was that it had to have been a "coward."
"This coward, truly a coward, who would leave a young innocent man to die alone in the dark in the middle of the street, must be caught," she had said.
The mourning couple worked with the police, even offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and still they came up with nothing. That was until Thursday.
King admitted that he was Paul's killer, say the police, and he killed him only that night because he was still trying to shake off a tough day with his family and "just wanted to kill the first person he saw."
According to the police, the teen is expected to be charged with 1st Degree Murder. Detectives noted that he also has a long criminal history and was already in jail on other charges.