The Daytona Beach Police Department (DBPD) files three felony charges on a 12-year-old for pointing a stolen gun with a laser sight at various people.
DBPD took Damarion Demeris Moore (pictured) into custody at John H. Dickerson Community Center soon after a witness called for assistance Tuesday night (October 22).
Officers responded to the Dickerson Center just after 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, finding Moore – also known as “Lil North” or “Lil Northside” – near one of the basketball courts.
The witness told officers he saw Moore pointing a loaded firearm with a laser sight at other children near the basketball courts.
DBPD took Moore into custody after learning that he was in violation of a court-ordered curfew.
A body search turned up a spent brass casing inside one of Moore’s pants pockets, which he claimed he found at a nearby intersection.
An officer searched that intersection soon afterward and discovered a loaded semi-automatic pistol stashed underneath a dumpster, a weapon that was reported stolen three days earlier (October 19) in Daytona Beach.
Security footage from the Dickerson Center shows Moore running from the basketball courts to that same dumpster and then returning to the courts just before officers got to the scene. That video will not be released at this time.
The ammunition found in the gun also matched the brass casing found in Moore’s possession.
Moore – who does have gang ties – is facing charges of possession of a firearm by a minor, grand theft of a firearm and a probation violation.
Moore is currently on five years’ probation for grand theft. He was 10 years old at the time of that crime.
The following day (October 23), DBPD became aware of another incident involving Moore and a gun at Campbell Middle School (CMS), where he is a student.
According to the victim’s guardian, Moore pointed a gun with a laser sight at that child during an argument over basketball around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, over three hours before Moore’s arrest in the other (unrelated) incident.
The guardian claims Moore also pointed the gun at him and fired a bullet in the air after he confronted Moore at the Dickerson Center about the earlier incident at CMS. The guardian fled the scene after that.
CMS administrators were informed about both incidents the following day by the guardian, prompting them to contact DBPD for further investigation.
The guardian is refusing to press aggravated assault charges against Moore on the child victim’s behalf as well as for himself.
Moore is currently in custody without bond at the Volusia County Department of Juvenile Justice.