Florida Teen Arrested After Video of Him Viciously Beating An Autistic Boy Goes Viral On Facebook
Warning: The following video contains offensive language and graphic content.
On Friday, August 15, the Okeechobee Police Department arrested Andrew Wheeler. He reportedly assaulted a 16-year-old autistic boy named Aaron Hill at a house party that took place on Friday August 8.
According to WPBF, the 18-year-old man now faces a third-degree felony child abuse charge. In the video, Wheeler can be seen viciously kicking and punching Hill, who reportedly suffered from “multiple bruises, a sprained neck and a concussion.”
Hill also gave an account of the incident based on what he remembered. He allegedly got drunk and passed out at some point during the horrific incident. So, some of the details were rather vague. Here’s what Hill had to say according to the police report:
“Hill said that Wheeler had choked him until he became unconscious. He awoke to find Wheeler standing over him — hitting him in the face while others stood around and laughed. He added that Wheeler then held a knife to his throat and told him to leave. Hill then left and collapsed in the street where police found him.”
Spectators taped the incident and a female uploaded the footage to Facebook. Wheeler was taken into custody shortly after footage of the fight was posted, but not before it began circulating on Facebook and other social media networks.
Wheeler’s violent actions have resulted in public outrage and thousands of Facebook users have had no reservation about expressing their disdain for his actions under the hashtag #JusticeForAaron. As a matter of fact, his grandmother revealed their family has even received threats since the shocking video has gone viral. She also revealed why the family opted to let him remain in jail. However, she believes her grandson would never intentionally hurt an autistic person and that he’s remorseful about his actions, reports WPTV.
“My daughters have come to stay with me because we are afraid,” his grandmother explained. “They are putting our addresses and names and everything on Facebook and people are saying they are going to kill our family. “He would never target a child with autism…he wrote an apology letter to the boy and his mother and turned himself in,” the grandmother said.
Okeechobee City Police Chief Denny Davis also released a statement in reference to the incident. “I think the video is disgusting. It is just as upsetting to myself and my officers as it is to anyone else that viewed it. Absolutely no way would we ever attempt to cover up anything like that. So it’s very disturbing,” Davis said.
Wheeler is still in custody at the Okeechobee County Jail on a $20,000.00 bond. Evadean Lydecker Dailey was also arrested for her role in the horrific incident. She was reportedly heard in the video ordering Wheeler to take the fight outside. Dailey has been charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor and holding an open house party.
Do you believe Wheeler’s actions were intentional?
[Image via Bing]
