A Pennsylvania teenager has been arrested after authorities accused him of displaying the body of a person who had been fatally shot during an Instagram video chat with an acquaintance.
The 16-year-old suspect, who was arrested Friday in Bensalem, northeast of Philadelphia, allegedly asked for help disposing of the body during the call, the city’s police department said in a news release.
The teen was charged as an adult with criminal homicide, tampering with evidence and possession of criminal instruments, the department said.
He was arraigned Friday night and was ordered held without bail, the department said.
Authorities were alerted to the apparent murder at 4:11 p.m., when a woman called 911 and said an acquaintance of her daughter had called her on Instagram, the department said.
After the teen allegedly confessed to the murder, he flipped the video to show the legs and feet of a person covered in blood, the department said.
“He then asked for help disposing of the body,” the department said.
When authorities went to the teen’s mobile home, they saw someone flee from the back of the trailer, the department said. They found a person described in the statement as a dead young woman with an apparent gunshot wound.
The victim was not identified. Her connection to the teenage suspect remained unclear.
The alleged shooter was caught about a mile from the mobile home and taken into custody, the department said. Authorities accused him of taking “substantial” steps to clean up the crime scene.
The teen was being held at a juvenile detention center. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney speaking on his behalf.
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 7, court records show.
