Man choked teen and threw his phone in a lake because he walked through his backyard: Cops

Background: The Seminole County Jail in Sanford, Fla. (Google Maps). Inset: Kyle Riva (Seminole County Sheriff's Office).

A Florida man is accused of choking a teen walking through his backyard and snatching the boy's phone before throwing it into a nearby lake.

Kyle Riva, 70, has been charged with third-degree battery by strangulation and third-degree robbery by sudden snatching — both felonies — and first-degree misdemeanor damage of property between $200 and $1,000, Seminole County court records show. He made his first appearance in court on Tuesday and is no longer listed in the Seminole County Jail.

On Monday at about 7:10 p.m., a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy were walking through Riva's backyard on Tigua Island Court in Seminole County, Florida. The area is just northeast of Orlando.

An arrest report obtained by Law&Crime states that Riva's wife noticed the boys and exited her home and asked them to leave. The 13-year-old boy reportedly cursed at her, and she went back inside and told her husband.

Riva emerged "angry," the court document states, and the 13-year-old "pulled out his phone and began to record" the man. Riva allegedly then "pushed" the boy "once near the collar bone," but the teen continued recording.

The teens suggested it wasn't as much of a push as a choke. They stated that as soon as Riva walked into his backyard, he approached the older boy "aggressively," prompting the teen to start recording "because he felt he was in danger." Riva reportedly then grabbed the 13-year-old "by the neck and began to squeeze."

The defendant "then grabbed the phone" from the teen's hands "and threw it into Lake Antigua, which backs up to Kyle's backyard," according to the report.

After the incident, the teens returned to the older boy's house, where his father prompted them to call 911. Authorities say the injured boy had bruises on his throat that "clearly show the impressions of fingers which had wrapped around his throat."

The father then reportedly expressed his desire to press charges.

Riva is expected to return to court to be arraigned on Aug. 25.

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Teen who had cellphone taken away beat wheelchair-bound mom to death with hammer: Cops

News footage of the apartment building where Georgina Lee Monk was found dead on June 26 (KARE).

A Minnesota teenager allegedly killed her mother with a hammer, then asked police to do a welfare check because she felt "regret."

Ramsey County prosecutors charged a 17-year-old girl with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her 43-year-old mother, Georgina Lee Monk. According to a criminal complaint obtained by local news outlet Pioneer Press, staff members at a day treatment program that the girl attended became concerned about the girl's behavior when she arrived on the morning of June 26.

According to reporting on the complaint by local NBC affiliate KARE, the girl told staff members that someone needed to "check on her mother because she felt regret." Staff members told police that they believed the girl was spiraling and acting strangely.

Officers from the Maplewood Police Department responded to the apartment building in Maplewood, Minnesota, at 9:30 a.m. and found Monk dead inside. She was in her bed, on her back, and had multiple blunt-force injuries to her face and upper body. Police said Monk was diabetic and suffering from an infection in her foot at the time of her death, which caused her to use a wheelchair.

After speaking with people at the apartment, police said the apartment manager had been aware of an ongoing conflict between the mother and daughter. He told police that on the night of June 25, he heard the two having an argument that was "more heated than usual."

Neighbors also told police about the fights Monk had with her daughter. Police said one neighbor stated that Monk had reportedly taken her daughter's phone away.

According to the complaint, surveillance video from the apartment captured the teen leaving the building at 3:23 a.m. on June 26 with a large white garbage bag. Two hours later, she was seen on camera walking around with a hammer before being seen again empty-handed. Around 7 a.m., she was seen walking to a nearby bus stop.

Police said that inside the apartment, they found bloodstains throughout the home, including on the teen's bedroom doorknob, in her bedroom, and on the toilet bowl lid. Bloody clothes were found in a hamper in her room. Police searched the dumpsters after garbage pickup took place.

After police took the teen into custody, she told them that she took the garbage out because that was one of her regular chores. When asked about the hammer, she told police that she was asked by Monk to put it back in the garage. According to the complaint, the teen said she kept the hammer in the home for "protection."

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As the interview progressed, police said the teen admitted that she struggled with her mental health and was worried that she was "crazy." Police said she claimed to hear "whispers" and "a thought came into her head to, 'Get rid of anybody who hurt you in your life or anybody who dared to hurt you.'" She then allegedly admitted that she hit her mother in the head twice with the hammer. According to the complaint, she said the alleged killing was "not entirely planned."

Police said the teen asked a detective, "Am I a criminal because I only killed one person?"

According to the complaint, the teen "tried to go back to sleep" after the alleged killing, but was unable. She continued to "act like everything was normal" and called her boyfriend. The girl was arrested following the interview and booked into jail.

Police said the teen called her boyfriend while in custody and told him, "It wasn't just rage, I just couldn't handle it no more. I couldn't wait another year of all the criticisms, and all the manipulations, the mental and emotional abuse. I just couldn't, it was too much."

The teen was charged with second-degree murder and remains in custody. Since the suspect is a juvenile, court information was not made publicly available.

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