Three bored Oklahoma teens spotted Christopher Lane jogging outside and decided to randomly kill him, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Lane, a 22-year-old exchange student from Australia, was visiting his girlfriend in Duncan, Okla., while on break from nearby East Central University, where he was a star on the baseball team. The teens, 15-year old Chancey Allen Luna, 16-year-old James Frances Edwards Jr., and 17-year old Michael Dewayne Jones, spotted Lane jogging outside and decided to follow them in their car. Luna allegedly shot Lane in the back from the backseat of the car, while Jones drove. Prosecutor Jason Hicks said that the boys “think it’s all a joke,” and Jones reportedly told police they murdered Lane “for the fun of it” before high school classes start again.
Luna and Edwards are being charged with first-degree murder and could face life in prison, while Jones is being charged on multiple accessory counts and faces two years to life. All the teens are being tried as adults. Tim Fisher, a former Australian Deputy Prime Minister, cautioned Australians against visiting the United States and told the Herald Sun that the murder was a sign of “the proliferation of guns on the ground” in the country.