A DeKalb County teen previously charged with murder in the death of his friend, who was weeks away from high school graduation, now faces lesser charges.

Dean Dunkley, 18, didn’t mean to shoot Nicholas Glasco, also 18, on April 14, according to an indictment handed down last week by a grand jury. Glasco had been set to graduate the next month from Redan High.

The new document charges his friend only with involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

About 4:30 p.m. that Saturday, officers responded to Old Friar Tuck Road near Stone Mountain and found Glasco critical. He’d been shot in the chest with a 9mm Luger, police have said.

Dunkley initially said Glasco shot himself, but later admitted he shot Glasco and hid the gun, according to the original arrest warrant.

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Glasco was taken to a local hospital and later pronounced dead.

The indictment says Dunkley, who was arrested the day of the shooting, was behaving recklessly when he accidentally shot his friend. It also alleges he hid the gun, which constituted tampering with evidence.

An arraignment hearing is scheduled for Aug. 9, court records show.

Dunkley remains in the county jail without bond.

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The county said there are 27 surveillance traps deployed throughout DeKalb County.

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