18-year-old pulled trigger despite gun safety warning, killing teen, Manatee sheriff says

As a group of teenagers hung out in a Bradenton backyard, one of them warned Carter Layne not to point a gun at others, according to an arrest report.

Moments later, the 18-year-old fired the weapon at one of those teenagers, striking him in the chest and killing him, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said.

According to investigators, the shooting happened at a house in the 5900 block of Eighth Avenue Drive West on March 8 around 7 p.m. Layne is facing a manslaughter charge after deputies say he inappropriately handled a firearm he “knew or should have known was loaded with ammunition.”

Layne, who detectives say was smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol along with others that evening, was reckless with how he handled a small silver revolver with a wooden handle, according to an arrest report. Witnesses said he took turns pointing the gun at different people and insisted the gun wasn’t loaded, deputies said.

But the sheriff’s office says Layne should have known the revolver was loaded when he pointed the gun at 17-year-old Jann Michael Feeney’s chest and shot him dead.

Detectives say when Layne waved the firearm, he began “opening the cylinder, taking ammunition out” and “putting it back in.”

Richard Reinhart, Layne’s attorney, declined to comment when contacted by the Bradenton Herald Wednesday afternoon.

Shooter ignored gun safety warning, deputies say

At some point in the evening, detectives say Layne pointed the revolver at another person, who told him not to do that and pushed the gun away. Layne responded that it was not loaded and pointed it at him again, according to an arrest report.

The teenager again pushed the gun away and asked him not to point the weapon at him, according to an arrest report.

The witness told a detective with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office that he wasn’t afraid Layne would intentionally shoot him, “but he was concerned that the gun would accidentally go off” because “the number one rule of gun safety” is “always assume a gun is loaded.”

Detectives said Layne then pointed the gun at another person, who did not see it because they were on the phone.

But the next time Layne pointed a revolver at someone, it was Jann Michael, according to an arrest report.

Jann Michael jokingly said the gun wasn’t loaded before Layne pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest, the sheriff’s office said.

One of the witnesses in the backyard told detectives he heard a bang and Jann Michael fell to the ground.

18-year-old charged in backyard shooting

Detectives say another witness told them he was in the backyard at the time but did not see the shooting because he was on his phone and not paying attention to what was going on.

But detectives say he told them he also heard a loud bang and saw a gunshot wound in Jann Michael’s chest, prompting him to run inside and repeatedly yell, “Call 911, Carter shot JM!”

This witness grabbed a towel from inside and held it to Jann Michael’s chest until the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office arrived, according to an arrest report.

When deputies arrived, they performed life-saving measures on the teenager, but Jann Michael was pronounced dead at the scene, the Bradenton Herald previously reported.

Most of the people in the backyard at the time of the shooting fled on foot, according to an arrest report.

The sheriff’s office said another witness, who was not at the house at the time of the shooting, told detectives he saw Layne consuming alcohol and playing with a revolver earlier that day.

Bradenton remembers shooting victim

Co-workers started a GoFundMe to help Jann Michael’s family with expenses following his death. They’ve raised more than $30,000 so far.

Jann Michael wrestled at Manatee High School, where coach Andrew Gugliemini described him as a “perfect gentleman” and “perfect sportsman,” the Bradenton Herald previously reported.

Layne, a Parrish resident who was 17 at the time of the shooting but has since turned 18, is facing manslaughter charges and is set for his first court appearance Friday at 8:30 a.m., according to court records.

Layne remains in the Manatee County Jail, according to the sheriff’s office website.