Teenage killer posed for Snapchat selfie with body in the background, US court is told

A 16-year-old sent a cellphone selfie that also showed another teen he had just fatally shot in the face, sitting in a chair, investigators said in court papers charging the teen.

Maxwell Morton faces a preliminary hearing on February 19 on charges of first-degree murder, criminal homicide and possession of a weapon by a minor following the shooting Wednesday of Ryan Mangan, who also was 16. Mangan’s funeral was Monday in Jeannette, a city of roughly 9,500 residents about 40km east of Pittsburgh.

Investigators zeroed in on Morton after the mother of a third boy called police a day after the shooting to report that Morton had sent her son the picture with Mangan’s lifeless body in the background.

Online court records don’t list an attorney for Morton, and a woman who answered his home telephone Monday said the family has yet to hire one, before declining to comment.

According to a criminal complaint, Morton took the photo with Snapchat, a messaging app that lets people send photos, videos and texts that disappear in a few seconds, unless the recipient saves them. If that happens, the sender is automatically notified.

In this instance, the boy who received the photo saved it, and his mother turned it over to police.