Bunnell, FL - The 16-year-old arrested in the shooting death of 17-year-old Elijah Rizvan is now being charged as an adult. A Grand Jury indicted Benjamin Allen yesterday (August 1) afternoon.
The shooting happened on July 12. Allen was arrested on July 14.
“We fully support the state’s decision to try this young man as an adult in the shooting death of another teenager,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “We applaud the Grand Jury and State Attorney Larizza and hope that this sends a loud and clear message that this behavior will be taken seriously and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Allen has been in the Department of Juvenile Justice in Daytona Beach since July 14, the day he was arrested. He was processed at the Flagler County Jail last night then moved to the Duval County Jail as FCJ does not have the capacity to hold juveniles.
“Gun violence and murder place a cloud of fear and despair over or neighborhoods and communities,” State Attorney R. J. Larizza said. “It is especially disheartening when the violence involves teenagers. Charging the defendant as an adult was necessary for two reasons – to protect our neighborhoods and communities, and to hold the defendant accountable for his intentional and deadly crime.”
