CALVIN NEALY - 16 yo - DeLand FL

Teen Dies In DeLand Shooting

Police Unsure Whether Shooting Was Accidental

April 3, 2011

DELAND, Fla. -- DeLand police said a 16-year-old boy has died after suffering a gunshot wound to the head on Saturday.

Officers said Calvin Nealy was shot at about 1 p.m. at 309 E. Chelsea St.

Police said when they arrived, they saw a number of people running from the scene. Officer said they have recovered a gun they believe was used in the shooting.

Nealy's stepmother said the teen was with a group of people at the time of the shooting.

"All of the witnesses that were there, they ran from the scene, nobody came back," Nealy's stepmother said.

Investigators said they aren't sure if the shooting was intentional or accidental.

Family and friends gathered in the street late Saturday to comfort Nealy's father and mother. Calvin's step mom said she warned him about guns.

"I tell them all the time; guns are not for kids. This is a perfect example of why kids should not be with guns," Nealy's stepmother said.

Investigators said they have spoken with a couple of people about the shooting but they are still piecing together how Calvin got shot.

Investigators said they didn't know whether the shooting was accidental or deliberate. They asked people in the community with knowledge of the shooting to call the DeLand Police Department or Crimestoppers at 800-277-TIPS.

Public Facebook Comments

https://www.facebook.com/pages/RIP-Calvin-Nealy/121900927884921

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2011/04/08/family-of-slain-teen-community-gather-for-vigil.html

Family of slain DeLand teen, community gather for vigil

BY KELLY CUCULIANSKY, STAFF WRITER
April 8, 2011 12:05 AM Posted in: West Volusia Tagged: Calvin Nealy Jr.

DELAND -- As night began to fall at the park near the home where Calvin Nealy Jr. died, arms raised glowing candles and the melancholy sound of a lone saxophone filled the air....

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2011/04/03/police-boy-dead-from-gunshot.html

Police: Boy dead from gunshot
BY ANDREW GANT, STAFF WRITER
April 3, 2011 12:05 AM

..."Anderson said a "suspect firearm" was found "in the general vicinity" of the 16-year-old's body but he did not specify the type of gun or how close it was found.

Children in the neighborhood had slightly varying accounts of what happened. One young man could be overheard telling Calvin's mother the gun accidentally fired in someone's hands, and he panicked and ran upon seeing the wound."...

http://www.cfnews13.com/arPMticle/news/2011/april/226994/16yearold-DeLand-boy-dies-after-shooting

16-year-old DeLand boy dies after shooting
By Dave D'Marko, Reporter
Last Updated: Saturday, April 02, 2011 9:59

..."The gun was pointed at his face. He told the boy to get it out of his face like anyone else would do, he slapped the gun and some way it went off and shot him in the head," said the victim's stepbrother Jakeem Heath.

At least that's what they've heard unofficially, police said they found the gun, but have not said who it belonged it to or exactly how they think the shooting happened, only that everyone believed to be involved took off."...

http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2011/04/04/deland-teens-death-sparks-vigil-rally.html

High school remembers DeLand teen
Details sparse, but neighbors hear shooting was accident

BY EILEEN ZAFFIRO-KEAN, STAFF WRITER
April 4, 2011 2:45 PM

"DELAND -- Students gathered this morning at DeLand High School to remember a former classmate who died of a gunshot wound.

Calvin Nealy Jr., 16, died Saturday and police said they don't plan on releasing any information on the shooting today. They said there are two scheduled interviews in the case."...

http://www.beacononlinenews.com/news/daily/3655

16-year-old DeLand teen killed; anti-gun vigil planned Thursday
Police investigating shooting death near Earl Brown Park

By Jen Horton
BEACON STAFF WRITER
posted Apr 4, 2011 - 12:55:47pm

"At least four online vigils have been published on the Internet since Calvin Nealy Jr., a 16-year-old freshman at DeLand High School, died from a gunshot wound to the head April 2.

The four websites represent more than 200 people paying homage to a well-loved young man."...

Obituary and photo.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/news-journalonline/obituary.aspx?n=calvin-marcus-nealy&pid=150089337

A DeLand man accidentally shot and killed his friend early Saturday,
firing a bullet into his head as the pair played video games in a
crowded apartment living room, police said.
Derek Young, 23, was charged with manslaughter in the early-morning
death of Manny Portell -- a 22-year-old bartender who police said had
already seen a loaded shotgun pointed at him that night, "as a joke."
Officers arrived at Young's apartment on West Howry Ave. about 1:40
a.m., finding Portell sitting on the couch with a bullet wound to his
head. Young, meanwhile, was on the kitchen floor, struggling with a man
who tackled him.
Young, police said, was pleading, "I didn't mean to do it."
Portell's death marked the third accidental shooting reported in DeLand in the past two months.
In March, 13-year-old Charlie Martin survived a gunshot to the neck.
On April 2, 16-year-old Calvin Nealy Jr. died of a gunshot wound to the
head.
In Saturday's shooting, a large crowd gathered outside the apartment
and officers "feared for Derek Young's safety and removed him from
harm's way" by taking him to the police station, where he agreed to talk
to investigators.
Once there, he said he and Portell "would often joke around and pick
on each other" -- like earlier Saturday, when Portell came in the door
to see Young aiming the shotgun at him.
Portell "gave a shocked reaction" and Young put down the gun, police said.
Later, both young men were sitting on a couch when Young reached for a
9mm handgun sitting on the coffee table. He grabbed the gun "in a
shooting hold" and held it against his chest, the barrel facing across
his body to the left, where Portell was seated.
Somehow, Young explained, he squeezed when he sat back against the cushion, and the gun fired.
When he looked at his friend, he "noticed there was a hole in his head," police said.
Five others were in the room at the time. One, a young woman who said
she was "blacked out" from excessive drinking, didn't awake to the
shot. Her boyfriend, who was tending to her, said he was leaned over to
kiss her when he heard the shot fire.
When he looked up, "Derek Young was holding the handgun with a
surprised look on his face and Portell with his head lying back on the
couch," bleeding, the boyfriend told police.
Young apparently panicked soon after, and he ran for the kitchen --
wrapping the 9mm in a blue jersey he found on the living room floor.
About the same time, another man who heard the gunshot ran into the
apartment and struggled with Young, stopping him from running away in
panic.
When Young cooled off, police said, he admitted he "may have grabbed the gun to be cool."
"A little bit, I guess," he told police, according to his arrest
report. "I like firearms. I do, really. I'm not gonna lie. I love guns. I
can't help that."
He also admitted, however, that as a convicted felon, he was
prohibited from having a gun in the first place. Young had been
convicted of felony marijuana possession.
Young said he had stolen his mother's 9mm semiautomatic handgun from
her apartment some time ago. He and his roommates -- all four of them
were there for the shooting -- were afraid of "an issue" with some local
gun and drug dealers.
One of the roommates recently tipped off DeLand police to two
brothers who were later charged with selling drugs and stolen guns from
their home on South Delaware Avenue.
It was that same roommate who yelled into the neighborhood for
someone to call 9-1-1 because "Derek just shot Manny," according to the
police report.
Officers who searched Young's room found a gun cleaning kit and a
safe containing various ammunition. Inside the living-room coffee table
where Young said he picked up the handgun, they found a loaded 9mm
magazine. The gun itself was on the dining room floor, next to the blue
jersey.
Young also was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted
felon and grand theft firearm -- after he said he stole the gun from his
mother's apartment a few days prior.
Young was being held on $25,000 bail Saturday night at the Volusia County Branch Jail.
http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/west-volusia/2011/05/01/deland-man-accidentally-shoots-kills-friend.html