Suspect In Murder Of Australian Baseball Player Discussed Violence, Displayed ... - CBS Local

OKLAHOMA CITY (CBS Houston/AP) — One of the teenage suspects accused in the murder of Australian baseball player Christopher Lane used obscenities over 1,200 times on Twitter.

Of the 2,113 tweets from 15-year-old James Francis Edwards Jr. since February 2011, he posted the "N" word 430 times, the "B" word 278 times, the "S" word 247 times and a variation of the "F" word 276 times.

This past May, Edwards tweeted about killing someone: "I load my clip before my eyes blurry, don't worry I'll get them succas bacc before your buried s*** Retaliate and pull a 187."

Edwards even had obscenity-related tweets directed towards President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, calling Obama the "N" word and also a "f*****" for supporting gay marriage and saying the former Republican presidential nominee is a child molester.

Lane, a 22-year-old student at East Central University, was shot in the back and killed last week while jogging in Duncan, a southern Oklahoma community where the three teenagers accused in his killing live.

The prosecutor in charge of the case said Friday the killing of Lane was not racially motivated.

"At this point, the evidence does not support the theory that Christopher Lane was targeted based upon his race or nationality," District Attorney Jason Hicks said in a statement.

Hicks acknowledged that social media posts allegedly made by some of the defendants are racial in nature, but he said "the evidence is insufficient to establish that race was the primary motive" in Lane's slaying.

Both Edwards and Chancey Allen Luna, 16, have been charged as adults with first-degree murder. Michael Dewayne Jones, 17, is charged with using a vehicle in the discharge of a weapon and with accessory to first-degree murder. He is considered a youthful offender but will be tried in adult court.

Police said Jones told investigators that the three were "bored" and decided to kill someone for the "fun of it."

One of Edwards' friends, Serenity Jackson, told The Associated Press she didn't believe race was a factor in the shooting. She noted that Luna's mother, Edwards' girlfriend and Jones are white.

"It has nothing to do with Chris being white. They didn't even know who he was," said Jackson, 17, who grew up with Edwards.

Hicks also released a 911 call on Friday in which the caller reported that there were kids outside of a home threatening to kill someone.

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