The 13-year-old suspect in the foiled Columbine-style attack planned last week at the Villages Charter School had undergone a mental health evaluation in 2013.
Zachary W. Shearon of Fruitland Park is facing a charge of conspiracy to commit premeditated murder after the plot was uncovered by the school resource officer and school principal. Shearon and fellow student 14-year-old Richard “Trey” Hummer had reportedly hatched the plot together.
The Villages Charter School is holding a parents-only meeting Saturday on the foiled school-shooting plot. You can read more about the meeting HERE
Shearon had recently shown up at a Holocaust remembrance event with Nazi logos on his arms and swastikas on his hands, according to an arrest report. Shearon had also posted on Instagram a picture of the Columbine shooters with the caption, “The Columbine High School Basketball Team has not been the same since they lost their two best shooters,” according to the arrest affidavit.
In 2013, Shearon underwent a mental health evaluation after witnessing an altercation between his parents in their Fruitland Park home that led to his father’s arrest on a charge of domestic battery.
Lake County sheriff’s deputies responded to the home after receiving a 911 hangup call. While on their way there, a second 911 call was received from Shearon’s grandfather.
Deputies spoke with Shearon’s father who told them that he and his wife had a verbal altercation, but neither had struck one another. Shearon’s mother also told deputies that she and her husband had a verbal argument and insisted it had never turned physical.
However, Zachary Shearon and his sibling, who had placed the first 911 call, told a different story. When the 911 call did not go through, the children ran to a neighbor’s house, according to the arrest affidavit. The children, who were interviewed separately, told deputies they had seen their father drag their mother back into the home by her legs.
A deputy then asked the children’s mother if her children were in the habit of saying things that were not true. She responded that she did not want her husband to go to jail and she did not want to call her children liars.
The children’s father was arrested and booked at the Lake County Jail. However, by October, the prosecutor’s office had decided not to proceed with the case.
“The minor children who allegedly witnessed this event have seen a mental health counselor and were evaluated with regard to any potential trauma this incident may have caused. Both juveniles were assessed and were not found to require any additional counseling sessions,” State Attorney Brad King wrote at the time.
“Due to the alleged victim’s desires and the agreement with the defendant’s attorney, the State will not go any further with prosecution in this matter,” he added.
