St. Petersburg, Florida. – Two boys in St. Pete were supposed to be in school. Instead, one of them is charged with manslaughter and the other’s family is planning a funeral. According to St. Petersburg police, 11-year-old Veondre Hargrove died last Thursday because of a dispute over a vape pen.

14-year-old Gavin Santos-Brown turned himself in to police on Sunday. He is charged with manslaughter as an adult.

“This is a very tragic thing all around,” said Ashley Limardo, SPPD spokeswoman.

Courtesy: St. Petersburg Police Department

Police said Hargrove and Santos-Brown were at a friend’s house on 11th Avenue South near Child’s Park around 9:45 p.m. Thursday. According to the police report, Hargrove and Santos-Brown were sitting on the couch when Santos-Brown pulled out a gun. The report says the mutual friend overheard the victim and suspect talking about a vape pen “that was unknowingly stolen from the suspect by the victim.”

“He (the mutual friend) said something along the lines of, you know, ‘We’re not allowed to have guns here. You have to put them away,’ and he turned around when all of a sudden he heard the gunshot,” Limardo said. “The next thing he knew, Hargrove was shot and Gavin fled on foot.”

A handgun was left at the scene, the report said. Investigators are still trying to determine where the weapon came from, but Limardo said it was another tragic reminder to lock away your guns.

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“We frequently see that many of our youth obtain these weapons by opening a car door and finding them there. Sometimes they belong to their parents and they have access to them. If you are a gun owner, it is important that you lock the weapon away and keep it in a place where it is not easily accessible to your own children. You also should not leave it in the car, in an unlocked car, because I still see a trend where people check the doors, the door is unlocked and they come across a weapon,” Limardo said.

According to the police report, Santos-Brown is a student at Azalea Middle School.

“We know that many criminal activities involving young people are typically related to boredom or too much time on their hands,” Limardo said.

“We have the youth outreach program available to them that gives them access to sports. If they need help in any other situation, that’s available to them as well. We just want to make sure our residents and our parents know that we’re here to help them as best we can. Our goal is not to arrest as many kids as possible. We want them to live their lives and become something they can be, and we get that done when we all work together,” Limardo said.

The investigation is still ongoing.

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