Boca Raton Teen Killer Identified, Cops Say Shot Friend In Back Yard

AT LEAST NINE SHOTS FIRED. SUSPECT CLAIMS SELF-DEFENSE, POLICE SAY NO.

BY: 24/7 CRIME DESK | BocaNewsNow.com

BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The young teen who allegedly killed his friend in unincorporated Boca Raton in August has been identified as 15-year-old Dylan Dantas. Dantas — under investigation since the August shooting — was taken into custody on Tuesday. He remains held without bond.

Dantas, according to a police report obtained by BocaNewsNow.com, allegedly lured his friend to his home on Bianchini Circle on August 7th, then shot and killed him. We are republishing the narrative filed by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. We note it is graphic, but also shows in tremendous detail the alleged thinking of a teen killer — according to investigating detectives.

What Police Say Happened:

On Monday, August 7, 2023, at about 11:55 AM, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office received a call from Dylan Dantas at 6836 Bianchini Circle, Boca Raton in unincorporated Palm Beach County, who advised in part that he just killed someone that was in his backyard. Dylan Dantas thought the person was breaking into his home and that the person was his friend.
Upon the arrival of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office at about 11:59 AM, contact was made with an unarmed Dylan Dantas in the front yard of the residence. Dylan Dantas made utterances about self-defense to the deputies and was detained.

The rear of the residence was surrounded by an approximate 6-foot wooden privacy fence with two gates. Entry was made to the backyard through the western gate by a responding deputy. A black male subject was located on the back patio of the residence within the screen enclosure for the pool. The black male subject was unresponsive and appeared to have at least one defect from a gunshot. Palm Beach County Fire Rescue came into the backyard through the eastern gate. The subject was pronounced deceased at 12:11 PM by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. The Palm Beach County Medical Examiner’s Office would later rule the manner of death to be homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds. No weapons were located on or around the decedent.

A Taurus G2C 9MM, black semi-automatic firearm was discovered on the rear patio of the residence outside the rear sliding glass door. The observed firearm slide had the magazine inserted and the slide locked in the rear position. The magazine was later found to be empty meaning the firearm was shot until it ran out of bullets. A total of 9 fired casings were located on the pool deck and in the pool. The fired casings were identified as being fired from the recovered firearm. Projectiles recovered from the scene of the homicide and from the victim during the autopsy were identified as being fired from the recovered firearm.

Multiple surveillance cameras were seen on the exterior of the residence and videos were obtained.
Video from rear patio of the Dantas residence about 11:52:16 AM – Dylan Dantas on the phone walking out into the pool enclosure from the rear sliding door then back into the residence. It appears that Dylan Dantas states, “Come to the backyard. Where you at?”. Dylan Dantas is wearing a hooded sweatshirt with a heavy object in the front kangaroo pocket. Dylan Dantas leaves the sliding glass door open as he reenters the house. Video from the east side of the Dantas residence about 11:53:19 AM – Victim kicking the wooden security fence on the north-facing fence on the east portion of the yard. After kicking the gate area, he enters the rear yard and is out of camera view. The victim can be heard saying “Dylan” while off the view of the camera. The victim is not wearing a shirt and no weapons are seen. Video from rear patio of Dantas residence about 11:53:42 AM – Dylan Dantas exits the residence into the pool enclosure with a firearm extended. Dylan Dantas fires a shot and then states “Watch out fam”.

Dylan Dantas then fires multiple times toward the corner of the patio out of view of the camera. Nine shots can be heard during the shooting. After the shooting, Dylan Dantas stated “I told you brudda”, “Y told you fam”, “I told you my nigga”, , “Why you come to my crib nigga” and “He came to my crib like a dumbass”. Dylan Dantas has two cellular devices and says “Call 911”. From the time the victim is seen entering the backyard and is heard saying “Dylan” to the time of the first gunshot is about 5 seconds. In a review of the 911 call, the following was learned: Dylan Dantas stated that he killed somebody who tried coming into his house. He continued to state – He came in my house, he went through the backyard, I shot him three times. His name is Kaleb, and he has charges and stuff, I’m in the backyard and he was banging in it. He’s my best friend. This is self-defense, ma’am this is self-defense, am I right? He’s in my backyard. He was coming at me. He climbed my gate. He managed to get over the gate and then he broke the screen. This is self-defense. I didn’t know he was coming, and I knew he was coming because he told me he was in the car and was like “I’m gonna come kill you. I’m gonna kill you. He made threats. I called all my friends. He was on video. He came into my house.

In a review of multiple Body Worn Camera videos from responding deputies, the following was learned in part: Dylan Dantas told responding deputies that the victim told him he would kill him with his bare hands. The victim wanted to beat him up. The victim was his best friend and the victim is crazy. Dylan Dantas said that the victim has pictures of guns on social media. Dylan Dantas stated that he did not invite him over. Dylan Dantas asked if this was self-defense. Dylan Dantas stated that the gate is closed and locked all the time. It was learned through the investigation that there was a disagreement between Dylan Dantas and the victim from the previous weekend.

Dylan Dantas’ two cellular devices were seized and extracted. There were multiple communications located between Dylan Dantas and the victim throughout the device including multiple text and voice communications on August 7, 2023 as well as with other subjects. Included in these messages are the following:
Victim to Dylan Dantas at about 11:14:09 AM – “pik da phone jit™
Dylan Dantas to his girlfriend at about 11:24:05 AM – “Nvm bruh dis ima bout to deal”, “W dis nigga
(VICTIM NAME)”
Dylan Dantas to the victim at about 11:27:15 AM – “Disappointed Fr doe” Dylan Dantas to the victim at about 11:27:22 AM – “Waiting on u doe”
Dylan Dantas to the victim at about 11:27:26 AM – Location sent (Dantas residence)
Victim’s girlfriend to Dylan Dantas at about 11:31:50 AM – “Ur taking this way outta proportion (VICTIM
NAME) wasn’t even mad bout it”
Victim’s girlfriend to Dylan Dantas at about 11:32:12 AM – “Now chill tf out”
Victim’s girlfriend to Dyian Dantas at about 11:35:36 AM “How u gonna call ur brother pussy like he
literally isn’t mad”
Multiple incoming text messages from victim’s girlfriend starting at about 11:37 AM – “Your blowing this wayyyyyy outta proportion”, “You need to chill fr”, “Also grow up”,

Dylan Dantas sends multiple messages to a friend starting at about 11:50:15 AM – Nigga Allen trpoin if sun he slidin in mad”, “Ima have to (popcorn emoji)”, “His shi” Victim to Dylan Dantas Facetime communication at about 11:52:08 AM Dylan Dantas call to 911 at about 11:54:55 AN Along with the communications located on the extracted devices, multiple network communications were located between Dantas and the victim through the timeframe of the received records.

The distance from the location of the victim to the sliding glass door was about 26 feet. The distance from the location of the victim to the corner of the pool near the patio chair was about 13 feet. In an utterance, Dylan Dantas claims that the victim was between the chair and the pool when he shot. This is not consistent with the recovered video and the evidence at the crime scene. The victim is not seen by the camera that is located on the patio chair facing the pool, which means that the victim was never in the area described by Dylan Dantas. After the first four shots, Dylan Dantas advances to the area between the pool and the patio chair that has the camera then fires another five shots.

In this case, Dylan Dantas made utterances that he killed the victim in self-defense. While Dylan Dantas claimed he was in fear for his life, video evidence, cellular phone communication/data, and Dylan Dantas’ own actions contradict this claim. These actions and evidence appear to be inconsistent with the level of fear described and the level of fear that would be reasonable to justifiably murder another person. During the interaction between Dylan Dantas and the victim, the only one to act in a manner that would inflict great bodily harm or death was Dylan Dantas when he introduced a firearm into the incident. While the victim did kick the exterior fence and enter the rear yard, he was invited over to the house by Dylan Dantas and was in cellular phone communication with the victim leading up to the shooting, which included a text message stating “Waiting on u doe”. Dylan Dantas appears to have the firearm in his possession in his hooded jacket during the video at about 11:52:16 AM. The victim was not armed and was shot multiple times from a distance that is not consistent with utterances made by Dylan Dantas. Dylan Dantas stated on the 911 call that the victim was “coming at me”.

The video clearly shows Dylan Dantas shooting first then advancing on the victim who was already shot.
Based on the above facts, Your Affiant believes probable cause exists to arrest Dylan Dantas for the following charges: 1s’ Degree Murder with a Firearm FSS 782.04(1)(a)(1) Possession of a Firearm by a Minor FSS 790.22(3).