Maxwell Marion Morton took a photo of himself standing next to his victim’s corpse.
16-year-old Maxwell Marion Morton has been arrested after confessing to the murder of classmate Ryan Mangan, also 16, who Morton had shot dead before taking a Snapchat selfie with the corpse and sending it to his friend.
Though Snapchat is an ephemeral messaging app, meaning that the images/text sent through it only remain on the users’ phone for a handful of seconds before being deleted, it is possible for users to take screenshots of the messages they receive, which is what Morton’s friend did before handing the image over to police. According to reports, the Snapchat image depicted Morton taking a selfie next to the corpse, with the fatal gunshot wound to the head suffered by Mangan in clear view, alongside the caption “Maxwell.”
Also See: Twitter CEO: “We Suck at Dealing with Abuse and Trolls”
A police statement obtained by The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reads: “[Police] received a copy of the photo which depicted the victim sitting in the chair with a gunshot wound to the face. It also depicts a black male taking the ‘selfie,’ with his face facing the camera and the victim behind the actor. The photo had the name ‘Maxwell’ across the top.”
16-year-old Ryan Mangan was murdered by his classmate.
Alongside the image, Maxwell also sent his friend text messages including “Ryan was not the last one” and “Told you I cleaned up the shells.” Maxwell was arrested by police after they found the 9mm handgun used to kill Mangan in his home. He is currently being held in Westmoreland County juvenile detention center on charges of first-degree murder, homicide and possession of a firearm by a minor in connection with the death of Ryan Mangan. He is being tried as an adult.
Maxwell and Magnan both attended Jeannette High School. Counselors are on hand today to help the students through this difficult time.
