A man from Virginia has accused of secondly murder after fatally shooting a teenager who was filming a TickTok joke known as “Ding Dong Dittch” with two friends around 3 am on Saturday, according to judicial records and local authorities.
The Spotsylvania Sheriff’s office responded to a report of a resident shooting shooting a robbery, and found two teenagers with gunshot wounds, the office said in a statement. One of the teenagers, Michael Bosworth Jr., 18, later died of his wounds. The second person was treated by minor injuries, and a third person in the group was not at the stop, said the Sheriff’s office. Mr. Bosworth’s two friends were under 18.
The teenagers had bone in the neighborhood to make a video from Tap to Tap, one of them told investigators in an affidavit filed in the spotsylvania circuit court. A “ding dittch” joke implies ringing or hitting the front doors of the houses before escaping, and has become a popular fodder for videos of social networks.
“The minor advised that it is something that people are doing to put a barrel,” said the affidavit.
The group had called some doors in the area, one of the adolescents told a detective, and added that they were not familiar with the neighborhood. They were fleeing a residence when they were shot, according to the affidavit. At least a video that shows adolescents making the joke was still on one of the phones of friends, according to the affidavit.
The authorities arrested Tyler Chase Butler, 27, or Spotsylvania county, for second degree murder charges, malicious wounds and use of a firearm in the commission of a serious crime, said the Sheriff’s office. He was being a hero in the Rappahannock regional jail without bail, he said.
Mr. Bosworth was a last year student at Massaponax High School in Fredericksburg, Va. The high school, which was scheduled to maintain its graduation for older people on May 13, sent a message to the school community that the directors would be available to help duel students.
A spokesman for the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s office, contacted by phone, declined to comment. A lawyer from Mr. Butler did not promote comments requests. G. Ryan Mehaffey, the lawyer of the Commonwealth for Spotsylvania County, declined to comment, but said that a preliminary hearing had been scheduled for June 18.
This joke style has led to the tragedy in the past. In 2020, a man in California crashed into a six teenagers car, killing three of them, after a similar joke played. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023.
On Tuesday, a group of students met in the football field in Massaponax High School to remember their classmate, according to a video shared by an Instagram account led by school students. They shared memories about Mr. Bosworth and wrote messages about balloons before releasing them at sunset.
Jonathan Wolfe and Michael Levendon Contributed reports. Susan C. Beachy Contributed research.
