Florida Shop Owner Charged with Murder After Fatal Incident with Teen

A convenience store owner in Florida is facing murder charges for allegedly running down a 14-year-old boy on his e-bike, believing the boy was attempting to break into his store, as reported by police.

Hunter Russey was discovered unresponsive in a ditch, suffering from multiple skull fractures, early on October 13. This discovery came just hours after Kavan Vishnubhai Patel, 32, hit him with his vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit.

Sadly, Hunter was taken off life support days later.

Patel claimed he received an alert regarding a possible break-in at his store. When he arrived at around 4:30 a.m., he reported that he saw someone flee on an e-bike. The store owner later admitted to chasing after the boy and “intentionally” hitting him out of anger over the alleged burglary attempt.

Lt. Graig Erenstoft of the West Melbourne Police highlighted that Patel did not contact law enforcement during the incident. “He continues to follow him, doesn’t call law enforcement, doesn’t notify law enforcement that this is going on, and at some point runs into the bicyclist trying to stop him,” Erenstoft stated.

After the collision, Patel called the police to report the supposed burglary but failed to mention the crash or Hunter, who was found around 7 a.m. in critical condition.

Surveillance footage reportedly shows Patel’s vehicle colliding with the teen before it crashed into a mailbox and trash cans.

According to charging documents, Patel later returned to the scene to search for Hunter but did not locate him. Hunter’s family ultimately made the heartbreaking decision to donate his organs after his hospitalization.

Initially, Patel faced charges of second-degree aggravated battery and leaving the scene of an accident. With Hunter’s passing, those charges escalated to second-degree murder.