N.J. teen accused of slaying 10-year-old boy captured in Florida

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Karon Council, 18, was arrested in Florida Sunday night for the Feb. 21 death of a 10-year-old boy in Asbury Park, N.J.

A New Jersey teen accused of firing the shots that claimed the life of a 10-year-old boy and wounded his mother was captured in Florida late Sunday, authorities said.

A four-day manhunt led to the arrest of 18-year-old Karon Council in the coastal city of Pompano Beach, about 1,200 miles from his Neptune Township home, according to Monmouth County prosecutors.

During that search, a 16-year-old accomplice was apprehended Thursday at Neptune High School.

The alleged gunmen are believed responsible for the Feb. 21 shooting that killed Yovanni Banos-Merino at his Asbury Park home. The boy’s mother, Lilia Merino, survived.

US Marshals JUST arrested Karon Council in Deerfield Beach. Investigators say he shot and killed a 10-year-old in New Jersey last week. They say he is a known member of the "the bloods" gang and came to South Florida to hideout with his girlfriend. @wsvnpic.twitter.com/ohvuu3Or1B

— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) February 26, 2018

The gun-slinging teens were aiming for a man inside the home, officials said.

Council fled to the Sunshine State to lay low with his girlfriend, WSVN-TV reports.

Council was pictured by the Miami TV station cuffed and shirtless, with his back against the wheel of a car during the late night arrest.

Yovanni Banos-Merino, 10, was shot and killed at his Asbury Park home.  (GOFUNDME)

Prosecutors said Council is being held at a Broward County jail in Florida while pending extradition back to New Jersey. He faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a weapon.

The second teen, who was not identified, faces the same charges as Council.

Grief-stricken sister Vanessa Martinez spoke at a candlelight vigil for her slain brother Saturday night at the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County.

“Even though he’s not going to be here anymore, I know he’s looking after us and saying, ‘Everything is going to be OK,’ ” Martinez said, according to the Asbury Park Press.