Miami Twp. police: ‘Persons of interest’ identified in deadly shooting of 16-year-old boy

Patrick McCoy, Miami Twp. Police Department public information officer, told the media Friday that there is a person of interest involved in a homicide Thursday night of a 16-year-old Moraine boy. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Patrick McCoy, Miami Twp. Police Department public information officer, told the media Friday that there is a person of interest involved in a homicide Thursday night of a 16-year-old Moraine boy. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Miami Twp. police have “persons of interest identified” in the Thursday night shooting death of a 16-year-old from Moraine.

Seth Beatty died of his injuries at Kettering Medical Center, but his cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, according to Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.

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Miami Twp. police were called at 8:45 p.m. to the 2100 block of Kajean Avenue on a report of a shooting and are now conducting a homicide investigation.

“It was not a random shooting,” said Pat McCoy, the police department’s public information officer, during a Friday afternoon press conference. “We do have an idea of what transpired. We just have to get all the facts together to make sure that the information we have been given so far is accurate.”

A woman told 911 dispatchers that a teenage boy, later identified as Beatty, was shot in the side during a drive-by shooting. However, McCoy said that investigators have determined that it was not a drive-by shooting.

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The teen was in and out of consciousness as the woman said her boyfriend, who is a firefighter, tried to help him.

Officers who arrived on scene also rendered aid to try to save the teen’s life, McCoy said.

He described the neighborhood as an average, middle-class neighborhood.

“A homicide in that neighborhood is very, very uncommon,” he said. “They’re rare.”

Anyone with information that may help investigators is urged to call 937-433-2301.

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