Two teens, including a 19-year-old Ruskin man, have been arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on charges he was involved in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old in Deltona on Christmas Day.
Jail records indicate Brian Reardon, 19, was arrested at 1:08 p.m. April 21 and is being held without bond, charged with third-degree felony murder. The jail notes refer to an out-of-county warrant and identify Volusia County, and Reardon was “ready for transfer.”
The second suspect, Kobe Bedat, age 15, was charged with third-degree felony murder.
The News-Journal is naming him because he’s been charged as an adult.
But the Volusia Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that he, too, was being charged as an adult with third-degree felony murder.
Brenden Watkins, 17, of Deltona, was fatally shot on Dec. 25, 2025, before 9 p.m. in the 2000 block of El Campo Avenue, according to a Volusia sheriff’s Facebook post.
Major Case Unit detectives determined Reardon and Bedat − who live in Riverview − traveled to Deltona to trade an AR-style rifle with Watkins, whom they knew from online gaming, the post states, adding the gun was later determined to be stolen.
“Surveillance footage collected captured the arrival of Reardon and Bedat in an SUV, followed by a verbal confrontation and muzzle flashes before Watkins falls,” the post states.
“The initial findings indicate the shooting may have occurred during an attempted robbery. No suspect is in custody at the time of this post,” according to the post.
Watkins was discovered by deputies with multiple gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the sheriff’s post stated.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: 2 teens arrested in Hillsborough, charged in fatal Deltona shooting
Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
