Local news in Kentucky: Teen boy charged with murder for shooting 16-year-old girl over bag of marijuana

On Tuesday, an 18-year-old man from Kentucky named Demarkus Hedges turned himself into authorities after being accused of shooting a 16-year-old girl, Scarlett Tucker, earlier that morning.

The shooting occurred after Tucker reportedly refused to pick up a bag of weed that Hedges had dropped on the floor. Three witnesses, a 17-year-old female, an 18-year-old female, and an 18-year-old male, were present at the time of the incident, according to a report by Fox 19 on January 4, 2023.

The group had been spending time together in the Covington, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio, areas and were at the 18-year-old female’s residence in Burlington, Kentucky, when the shooting took place at around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Based on a report by the Daily Caller on January 5, 2023, the witnesses called the police at around 2:18 a.m., and Hedges fled the scene in a Nissan Optima with temporary Ohio license plates. He eventually turned himself in to the United States Marshals Service in Covington.

Hedges has been charged with one count of murder, one count of tampering with physical evidence, and two counts of second-degree unlawful transaction with a minor. He is currently being held at the Boone County Detention Center on a $1,000,000 bond.

The Boone County Sheriff’s Office released a statement about the incident, which is still under investigation. Tucker was shot in the head, and the incident occurred around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.