- October 31, 2024
-
-
Loading
Loading
By: FCSO Public Affairs Office Brittany Kershaw, courtesy of the FCSO
Benjamin Allen, the 16-year-old previously arrested for the shooting death of 17-year-old Elijah Rizvan, was indicted by a grand jury Aug. 1 for first-degree murder and will be tried as an adult by 7th Circuit State Attorney R. J. Larizza.
“We fully support the state’s decision to try this young man as an adult in the shooting death of another teenager,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “We applaud the Grand Jury and State Attorney Larizza and hope that this sends a loud and clear message that this behavior will be taken seriously and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Allen was held at the Department of Juvenile Justice in Daytona Beach since his arrest on July 14. On the night of Aug. 1, Allen was brought to the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility for processing following the indictment.
Allen is being held by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office at the Duval County Jail in Jacksonville as a courtesy hold because the Flagler County jail does not have the capacity to hold juveniles.
“Gun violence and murder place a cloud of fear and despair over or neighborhoods and communities,” State Attorney R. J. Larizza said. “It is especially disheartening when the violence involves teenagers. Charging the defendant as an adult was necessary for two reasons – to protect our neighborhoods and communities, and to hold the defendant accountable for his intentional and deadly crime.”
