Police: Miami Teen Harasses Then Kills Homeless Man

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A teenager has been arrested for allegedly pushing a homeless man into a river and killing him.

According to investigators, a 16-year-old boy was fishing with a friend along the Miami River on NW North River Drive and NW 3rd St. on May 24th.

The arrest report states the teen had wrapped up fishing at around 2 p.m. when he spotted a homeless man sleeping next to a wall adjacent to the Miami River.

The teen and his companion reportedly woke up the homeless man and started harassing him.

According to the arrest report, the homeless man stood up and the 16 year old proceeded to push the man into the river.

The teen allegedly stole the man's bag, hopped on his bike and took off.

A day later, Miami Police found the homeless man's body washed ashore at NW North River Drive and West Flagler St. The medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide.

On July 7th, police interviewed the 16-year-old's friend who was there at the time of the incident. Authorities said the friend identified the homeless man in photo.

With this information, police arrested the teen on July 15th on second-degree murder charges.

The teen's parents learned on Friday what their son had allegedly done.

They said he is a good kid and they couldn't believe he would hurt someone, let alone kill.

His parents said he has been living with his older brother and they hadn't seen him for a while.

They also said the teen gets in trouble for fighting with others because he has some developmental problems and gets picked on and bullied at school.

They said they tried to get the court system involved to put him in boot camp or some program to help him.