Killer Selfie: Teen Shoots Classmate, Takes Picture With Dead Body And Uploads To Snapchat

An unidentified Pennsylvania teenager allegedly shot and killed another teen before sending a selfie of the murder victim. The photo, sent via snapchat, was saved by one recipient eventually ended up in the hands of the Westmoreland county, PA, law enforcement.

Police were contacted by one of the recipient’s mothers, reportedly received text messages saying "Ryan was not the last one,” and "Told you I cleaned up the shells." What could drive a person to murder, let alone to take a morbid selfie to share with friends?

“This is really a question about criminal pathology rather than technology,” said Pamela Rutledge, a psychology and social media expert, in an interview with Pittsburgh’s Tribune Review. “Perpetrators in need of validating their power and sense of self-importance have used all kinds of communications to ‘brag' about criminal activities — from the local hangout to social media, like Facebook.” Rutledge, director of the Media Psychology Research Center and a psychology and social media instructor at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA, made her comments generally, and not about the specific case.

The alleged shooter, Maxwell Marion Morton, 16, of Jeannette, PA, was indicted on murder charges last Friday evening. He will be charged as an adult, according to the B.B.C. Pennsylvania prosecutors have a history of charging minors as adults, even as young as 10 years of age. The shooting victim, Ryan Mangan, also 16, was reportedly a classmate of Morton’s. Mangan’s funeral is set for today, February 9th.

Morton’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for February 19th. In addition to first-degree murder, he was charged with illegal possession of a firearm, a 9mm pistol. Though police are still waiting on ballistics tests to match the bullet, a 9mm bullet casing was allegedly found at the scene of the crime. During a police interview, Morton allegedly confessed to the killing. No motive has been given by police, nor has Morton made any public statement on the case.