Jealous ex-boyfriend poses as girl on Facebook to commit a murder

While usually there’s no harm in taking friendships from an online environment into the offline world, sometimes it can be a dangerous thing – as evident by a recent report from the Orlando Sentinel. The newspaper reported about a boy who allegedly used Facebook to kill his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend by luring him out with a fake profile.

According to the report, Israel Nieves, a 19-year old boy from Orange County, Florida set up a fake Facebook account with the name “Ty Ann” to befriend Jason Rodriguez, the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend. After weeks of flirting (he even got the help of a female accomplice to aid him whenever they spoke on the phone or were on video chat), Israel/Ty Ann got close enough to Jason to set up a meeting between them. Jason unknowingly drove to the location of his death when Israel showed up instead of Ty Ann, and shot him point blank in the face and in the neck.

A witness saw the whole event transpire but was spotted by Israel who gave chase. Fortunately the witness managed to escape unharmed and went straight to the authorities with information about the murder. Israel was arrested, and charged with first degree murder. Turns out it wasn’t the only crime he committed – he was also convicted for raping a 14-year-old girl he met online.

Now folks, this isn’t something that happens all the time, but we can all take this as a lesson and be more wary of the people we meet online. Identities can be easily faked – make sure you really know who you’re talking to if you plan to meet somebody face to face. Bring someone along and if possible, meet in a public area where there are plenty of potential witnesses around.

George Wong
Categories: Web
Tags: Facebook