RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — A teenager who was arrested last month in connection with the shooting of a 2-year-old boy in Riviera Beach has been charged as an adult.
Tyquan Johnson, 17, was booked into the main Palm Beach County jail Thursday. He is charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
The toddler was shot April 23 outside a home in the 800 block of West Fifth Street.
Riviera Beach Police Chief Nathan Osgood said during a news conference announcing the arrest that the boy was not the intended target.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the boy's mother told police that she was sitting in her Lexus trying to jump-start the car outside the home when Johnson approached and opened fire in her direction.
She told police she looked over and saw that her 2-year-old son, who was seated in the front passenger seat at the time, "was bleeding from the head."
The boy was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center to be treated for life-threatening injuries.
During an interview with detectives, the boy's mother told them that her sons were the targets of an earlier shooting in West Palm Beach involving Johnson.
She explained that she had moved to Riviera Beach since the first shooting and was trying to leave the state, saying she was "scared for her sons and retaliation."
Johnson appeared in court Friday morning. A Palm Beach County judge ordered that Johnson remain in jail without bond.