An 18-year-old boy in Georgia was stabbed to death after he kicked another man’s shopping cart at a Walmart on Wilmington Island.
The Chatham County Police Department said that Delano Middleton has been arrested after the teen victim J.T. Schroeder was “stabbed during an altercation” at a Walmart on October 23, according to People.
Schroder died days after he was stabbed, per the outlet.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up by his family friend, Kathryn Jones, to help raise money for Schroder’s family to pay off his medical bills they acquired during his time in the hospital. According to the GoFundMe page, Jones knows Schroder’s father and described him as a “devoted Dad who has worked hard to raise his boys with love and purpose.”
The police department said that Middleton, 48, was leaving the Walmart when Schroeder kicked his shopping court. Schroeder was later found with multiple stab wounds and lacerations, according to authorities.
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Middleton has since been charged with murder, according to Chatham County court records. It is not currently clear if he has entered a plea, while an attorney has not been listed for Middleton.
The suspect has a violent criminal history, with court records revealing his prior arrests for aggravated assault, battery, and weapons charges in 2021 and 2023, according to WJCL.
Schroeder’s father, who is also named J.T., spoke to WJCL about the incident, claiming that the police department’s statement that his son kicked the shopping cart doesn’t tell the full story of the situation that led to his death.
“My son was never, ever confrontational unless he was confronted first,” the father said, adding that he learned about the incident when he got a call that his son had been stabbed.
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“I got over there as fast as I could and saw blood everywhere,” the father continued. “He was literally stabbed over ten times until he finally bled out and died.”
Schroder’s best friend Gavin Pitts also talked about the victim, saying that there “will be nobody that can be like J.T.” He continued, “He was so different. I don’t think I’ll ever meet anybody like him again.”
