Teen fatally shot during cell phone sale, police say
LONG BEACH, Calif. (Gray News) - A suspect is in custody after California police say a 15-year-old was shot multiple times and killed during a meeting to buy a cell phone.
Police identified the victim as 15-year-old Joshua Simmons in a news release. Officers responding to a report of shots fired around 9:30 p.m. Friday found Simmons suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detectives say Simmons had arranged to buy a cell phone from 24-year-old Jose Bustamante Cardenas through an online marketplace app. During the transaction, an altercation led to the fatal shooting, according to police.
Cardenas was initially detained after contacting police and allegedly admitting his involvement in Simmons’ death. He was later booked on a murder charge and is being held on $2 million bail.
The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office later this week, police say.
A GoFundMe set up to cover Simmons’ funeral costs remembers the teen as “a boy who loved his friends and family and… cared deeply for others.”
Simmons was only a week away from his 16th birthday when he was killed, KABC reports.
Copyright 2022 Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
