For the family of 31-year-old Jamel Dunn, the only thing harder than dealing with his loss is knowing someone could have helped.
Only after his body was discovered floating by the edge of the water in Bracco Pond Park in Cocoa, Florida, on July 14 did his family discover someone recorded his drowning and didn’t help.
“Get out the water, you gonna die” one teen can be heard shouting. Another yelled to the man, “Ain’t nobody fixing to help you, you dumb (expletive).”
As the man kept screaming for help the teens did not call police, and he eventually submerged under the murky water for the last time.
“Oh, he just died,” a teen said while laughing. The group then fled the park.
“It was very disturbing,” said Dunn’s sister, Simone McIntosh. “They’re laughing and joking in the background saying, ‘No, we’re not going to help you.’ It’s horrible.”
The two-and-a-half-minute video, recorded July 9, was released by the state attorney’s office on Thursday.
In the video, police said a group teenage boys can be heard yelling things like, “We’re not going to help you and you never should have gotten in there.”
When Dunn falls below the surface of the water for the final time, one of the teenagers can be heard saying, “We could have helped.”
Someone is then heard talking about marijuana.
“We identified all five of them,” said Cocoa Police Department spokesperson Yvonne Martinez.
Dunn’s loved ones said they are devastated by the recording and shocked criminal charges won’t be filed.
>> Link: Fundraiser for Dunn's family
“For you to record and not get on the phone and call is just cruel,” said the victim’s fiancée, Rondanielle Williams.
While the state attorney’s office could find no moral justification for the incident, there wasn’t sufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution under Florida statutes.
Chelsea Todaro contributed to this report.
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