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Tyler Chase Butler was formally accused of killing 18-year-old Michael Bosworth in May.
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — A grand jury formally accused a Fredericksburg man of shooting and killing a teenager playing ding-dong ditch as he was running away.
Tyler Chase Butler, 27, was indicted Monday for murdering 18-year-old Michael Bosworth Jr. He faces various charges, including second degree murder, malicious wounding and using a firearm in a felony offense.
Butler called police around 3 a.m. May 3 and reported that there was a burglary in progress at his home around 3 a.m. and he fired his gun 10 times, the sheriff’s department said. But in reality, three teenagers were playing a TikTok prank, they later told detectives. Two of them were shot, and one, Bosworth, later died in the hospital.
The two surviving teenagers said it was known as the “Ding Dong Ditch” challenge, when teens kick a stranger’s front door and run away, according to court documents. They had already “hit” a couple of doors in the neighborhood when they got to Butler’s home on McKenzie Lane in Fredericksburg. One teen told police that as the game goes, they hit the door and run to hide. While running from Butler’s house, they were shot at, they told detectives.
In court last month, defense attorneys said the teenagers didn’t kick Butler’s front door — instead they scaled a six-foot backyard fence to kick and bang on his basement door. Butler’s counsel argued that he was scared for his and his mother’s safety. They had called 911 earlier and she had said, “I’m just scared here.”
Surveillance video of Butler on his porch the night of the incident was shown in court last month. In the video, Butler is holding a gun, yelling “What y’all on?” and “Y’all just in my crib!” He then said, “Hold up cuz, I’m about to blow one of the [expletive] down.” After shooting at them, he was caught on the surveillance saying, “Luckily, I didn’t smoke one of you [expletive].”
Bosworth was about to graduate from Massaponax High School when he was killed. His stepfather told WUSA9 that he loved playing lacrosse and planned to join the U.S. Marine Corps after high school.
In August, a similar incident left an 11-year-old dead in Texas. Around 11 p.m. Aug. 30, 11-year-old Julian Guzman and his cousin were playing a game of ding-dong ditch at a family birthday party when they got to 42-year-old Army veteran Gonzalo Leon Jr.’s door. As Julian ran away, Leon shot him in the back, Houston Police said. The child and his cousin filmed the incident, prosecutors said. Julian died in the hospital Aug. 31.
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