Man facing charges for first ‘Twitter murder’
By ANITuesday, January 12, 2010
LONDON - A man is facing charges in what police think is the first murder sparked by a row on Twitter.
According to the detectives, Jameg Blake blasted friend Kwame Dancy in the neck with a shotgun after the duo had a feud on the micro-blogging website.
Criminal experts said that the 140-character messages, known as tweets, have never been used as evidence in a murder trial before.
Police said that childhood pals Blake, 22, and Dancy, also 22, lived on the same floor of a block of flats but fell out over a girl and spent weeks trading insults on Twitter.
It is believed that hours before Dancy was killed, Blake allegedly sent him a tweet that said: “N*****s is looking for u don’t think I won’t give up ya address for a price betta chill asap!”
CCTV footage then shows Blake leaving the flats with a bag large enough for a shotgun, revealed the cops.
The victim, who was training as a nurse, was shot dead as he left his home in Harlem, New York, on December 1.
Officers have said that they found the murder weapon in Central Park along with a spent shell.
And two days after the killing, Blake posted a tweet saying: “R.I.P. Kwame.”
Meanwhile, Dancy’s mum, Madeline Smith, was horrified that a row on Twitter may have led to her son’s death.
“That’s not a reason to shoot somebody. That’s crazy,” the Mirror quoted her as saying.
“They were good friends, that’s the sad part. Obviously, I didn’t know him like I thought I did. I just want to ask him, ‘How could you?’” she added. (ANI)