OAKLAND PARK, FL - A 16-year-old has been arrested for allegedly fatally stabbing a 14-year-old inside the group home where they both lived during a fight over a PlayStation, according to authorities.
Ruben Whitworth, 16, was booked and charged on Thursday, September 4 with second-degree murder with a weapon for the August 25 killing of Jordan Dowdy, 14, Law & Crime reported.
Dowdy was found fatally stabbed that August afternoon at a residence in the 5400 block of Northeast Third Avenue in Oakland Park, police said.
Whitworth is facing those criminal charges as an adult. Dowdy's mother told WSVN that her son allegedly had problems with Whitworth in the past, which led to Dowdy being threatened.
"Jordan asked him one day, 'Ruben, would like some mozzarella sticks?' and he told my son, 'No, shut the 'F' up, or I'm going to stab you and kill you,'" Tiffany Simpson alleged about her son and Whitworth. "Two weeks later, he ended up dead," she added.
An adult supervisor at the One Hope United foster home was there at the time and found the two teens fighting before the stabbing unfolded in front of her, according to police. "Can you send me law enforcement and send me paramedics, please?" said the caretaker. "I need paramedics immediately."
"Where was he stabbed?" asked the dispatcher. "I don't see the knife right now, I had to break it up and I had to get involved with this situation," said the caretaker.
Officials suspect the stabbing stemmed from a verbal and physical altercation with Dowdy. Broward County court records describe Dowdy's murder as "dangerous," "depraved," and "without premeditation." Bobbie Pecora, a neighbor of the group home, said that she met the teen earlier this year and had a conversation with him.
"I say, 'Hey, you are new over there. How is everything going?' And he said, 'It's scary!'" Pecora recalled. "He was terrorized before he was murdered," Pecora alleged, claiming she saw cops at the home multiple times in relation to events involving Dowdy.
"The kid kept threatening him," Simpson said. "I expressed to multiple people who were here within the home with him." Friends and family held a candlelight vigil outside the group home.
"Everybody that's here for him, I want to say thank you for just this little bit of time. I know each and every one of us loved him and he loved each and every one of us, unconditionally," Simpson said at the vigil.
A GoFundMe has been created to help cover the funeral expenses to lay Dowdy to rest. Whitworth is expected to appear in court next month. He is being held at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale without bond.
Ruben Whitworth, 16, was booked and charged on Thursday, September 4 with second-degree murder with a weapon for the August 25 killing of Jordan Dowdy, 14, Law & Crime reported.
Dowdy was found fatally stabbed that August afternoon at a residence in the 5400 block of Northeast Third Avenue in Oakland Park, police said.
Whitworth is facing those criminal charges as an adult. Dowdy's mother told WSVN that her son allegedly had problems with Whitworth in the past, which led to Dowdy being threatened.
"Jordan asked him one day, 'Ruben, would like some mozzarella sticks?' and he told my son, 'No, shut the 'F' up, or I'm going to stab you and kill you,'" Tiffany Simpson alleged about her son and Whitworth. "Two weeks later, he ended up dead," she added.
An adult supervisor at the One Hope United foster home was there at the time and found the two teens fighting before the stabbing unfolded in front of her, according to police. "Can you send me law enforcement and send me paramedics, please?" said the caretaker. "I need paramedics immediately."
"Where was he stabbed?" asked the dispatcher. "I don't see the knife right now, I had to break it up and I had to get involved with this situation," said the caretaker.
Officials suspect the stabbing stemmed from a verbal and physical altercation with Dowdy. Broward County court records describe Dowdy's murder as "dangerous," "depraved," and "without premeditation." Bobbie Pecora, a neighbor of the group home, said that she met the teen earlier this year and had a conversation with him.
"I say, 'Hey, you are new over there. How is everything going?' And he said, 'It's scary!'" Pecora recalled. "He was terrorized before he was murdered," Pecora alleged, claiming she saw cops at the home multiple times in relation to events involving Dowdy.
"The kid kept threatening him," Simpson said. "I expressed to multiple people who were here within the home with him." Friends and family held a candlelight vigil outside the group home.
"Everybody that's here for him, I want to say thank you for just this little bit of time. I know each and every one of us loved him and he loved each and every one of us, unconditionally," Simpson said at the vigil.
A GoFundMe has been created to help cover the funeral expenses to lay Dowdy to rest. Whitworth is expected to appear in court next month. He is being held at the Broward County Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale without bond.
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