Underage Drinking, Drug Use Led to Fatal Shooting, Deputies Say

Michael Parker, 17, has been arrested and charged with manslaughter in the shooting death of Justin Cleveland, 18, at his Dunedin home late Wednesday night.

Cleveland was shot while hanging out with friends, all teenagers, who were drinking alcohol and using marijuana and the synthetic drug K2, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

"We have kids who should not be using drugs, much less alcohol. They are all young kids well known to deputies in Northern Pinellas," Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said in a news conference Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday night, Parker and Cleveland were hanging out with two teens, who are 17 and 18, Gualtieri said. Earlier that day, those two had met with a 16-year-old from Dunedin who had a gun for sale. The 16-year-old apparently had obtained the firearm from a robbery at an unknown location in Palm Harbor.

The boys traded $125 worth of marijuana for the 9mm gun, which one of the boys apparently wanted for security, the sheriff said.

Teens Were Horsing Around When Gun Went Off

The four boys met that night at Cleveland's Union Street residence, where the sheriff says they smoked marijuana, used K2 and drank alcohol. 

"There was a lot of horseplay going on Wednesday evening with the gun," Gualtieri said.

Parker put a round in the chamber. Cleveland had marijuana in one hand and a pipe with K2 in the other, the sheriff said.

During the horseplay, the magazine was removed from the gun with the thought that would keep it from firing. There was more bantering, and Parker pulled the trigger, killing Cleveland, the sheriff said.

The boys fled Cleveland's residence in a "panic," Gualtieri said. Two of them drove to Pasco County and disposed of the gun in a pond. Then they went to a restaurant in Palm Harbor and agreed not tell anybody what happened, the sheriff said.

Sheriff's Office Got the Tip a Day Later

The weight of what happened was bothering one of the boys. He told his father. The sheriff's office received a call about the Union Street shooting Thursday night around 10:30, the sheriff said.

Detectives found Cleveland sitting at his residence with a gunshot wound to the head. Detectives worked all night on the case, the sheriff said.

Authorities found Parker in Clearwater. After a brief negotiation with the sheriff's office, they arrested Parker and booked him on a manslaughter charge at the Juvenile Assessment Center.

The alcohol was obtained from convenience stores in North Pinellas, and the drugs were purchased on the streets, according to the sheriff's office.

The investigation is ongoing.