Parents Of Teen Whose Murderer Took A ‘Selfie’ With Victim Break Silence
The parents of a Pennsylvania teen who had his murder captured in a "selfie" spoke out for the first time since their son’s death Wednesday. Ryan Mangan, 16, was shot and killed by another teen in 2015, who then took a smiling self-portrait with Mangan as he was dying.
Maxwell Morton, also 16 at the time, took the photo in front of Mangan and then left him to bleed to death as he fled the scene. Morton never called for help, according to reports.
"Ryan deserved justice," Mangan's mother, Rebecca Murtland, told People Wednesday. "He could have been saved."
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Morton was convicted of third-degree murder in May and sentenced to at least 15 years in prison. Prosecutors used the selfie as a key piece of evidence in the trial, though they were unsuccessful in getting a conviction for first-degree murder. Morton’s defense team argued the shooting was an accident that it occurred when the teenagers were playing with a gun.
"It was like my son died all over again a second time," George Mangan Jr. said of the verdict. "And I just feel that this isn’t justice for him."
Both parents attended the trial in which the jury was shown the selfie Morton took.
"No trial is fair when the victim cannot participate," Murtland said, noting she was "thankful the judge realized the audacity of the crime."
Morton reportedly sent the selfie to a friend via Snapchat. The friend saved the picture and showed it to his mother, who then took it to police. The photo and its contents led police to Morton’s doorstep.
"[Police] received a copy of the photo which depicted the victim sitting in the chair with a gunshot wound to the face," a police affidavit stated. "It also depicts a black male taking the 'selfie' with his face facing the camera and the victim behind him. The photo had the name 'Maxwell' across the top."
Morton confessed to police after they found a handgun inside his home, officers said. District Attorney John Peck told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in 2015 that he’d never encountered a situation like it.
"I’ve never seen it before," Peck said. "But it was a key piece of evidence that led investigators to the defendant."
Westmoreland County Detective James Williams first interviewed Morton about the killing and the photograph and said Morton alleged he wanted to take a photo while the two were playing with the gun and accidentally shot Mangan.
"He had a little smirk on his face," Williams said of the interview, according to local WTAE-TV. "And said, 'I didn’t really care either.'"
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In May, Morton said during the trial that he didn’t want to be remembered as a "savage" and that Mangan’s death was "messed up," according to KDKA-TV.
"No one will understand," said Common Pleas Court Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio, "the thought process of taking that photo."
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