Mariana Minaya | [Orlando] Sentinel Staff Writer
Published June 27, 2006

Five Orlando teenagers who police think terrorized homeless people "for sport" are accused of kicking and punching one man to death.

The five -- three are 15 years old and two are 16 -- were arrested Friday and could face second-degree murder charges in the death of August Felix, 54.

Felix, who died from his injuries May 1, about a month after being beaten in a commercial area along America Street, had been able to tell police he was attacked by a group of young males. Police identified the five based on interviews with people in the area.

The group is suspected in the beatings of as many as a half-dozen other homeless people in the same area. The only motivation appears to be entertainment, Orlando police homicide supervisor Sgt. Richard Ring said.

"To see kids go out there and look at them like they're a whipping post is kind of disturbing," he said.

The suspects are not thought to be affiliated with a gang, nor is any one of them considered to be a leader in the group, Ring said.

Three were ninth-graders at Jones High School, one was in 10th grade at Boone High and the fifth was an eighth-grader at Howard Middle School. The Orlando Sentinel is not identifying the suspects because of their age.

Three of the teenagers were arrested at their Orlando homes. The other two were arrested in West Virginia, where they are being held. Ring said he didn't know why they were out of state.

The five may be prosecuted as adults, unless there are "extenuating circumstances," said Randy Means, spokesman for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office.

"Typically in this kind of situation," Means said, "they are tried as an adult."

One of the 15-year-olds is suspected of being involved with a group of young men who stole a cell phone in April at a pool company on Franklin Street.

No family came forward

Police don't know much about Felix. No one has come forward as family, so Orange County took care of his burial in Chapel Cemetery.

The homeless are easy targets because they have nowhere to go, are often alone and often seclude themselves, Ring said.

"It's shocking to think that anyone would have so little regard for a human being to go up and beat them for sport," he said.

Crimes against the homeless are on the rise nationally, said Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C.

From 1999 to 2005, there were 472 attacks that resulted in 169 deaths. Nearly two-thirds of the attackers were between 11 and 19 years old.

Last year, teenagers beat a man to death at a campsite in Holly Hill. In May, two groups of teens attacked homeless men in downtown DeLand.

Stoops said there may be a perception among those who commit crimes against the homeless that "you can pick on homeless people and not worry about getting caught."

Arrest stuns neighbors

Family of the teenagers arrested Friday would not comment or could not be reached for comment.

But neighbors said they were stunned at the arrest of one of the five -- the 15-year-old who attended Howard Middle. They said he never misbehaved and regularly attended school.

Neiljagia Smith, 14, of Orlando said the teenager was "usually upbeat and nice."

"I don't think I could have imagined him going to jail for second-degree murder," she said. "He wasn't that type. He wanted to go to college."

Lavonda Sorrell, 30, said there are troublemakers in the neighborhood, but the boy is not one of them.

"It took a lot to get him angry," she said. "He was the type of child that got along with everybody."

Mariana Minaya can be reached at mminaya@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6273.