Police: 19-year-old Daytona Beach man shot, killed 'openly gay' man out of fear of being 'outed'

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A 19-year-old Daytona Beach man accused of shooting and killing an "openly gay" man that he met online in February, allegedly feared that the victim would have outed his sexual preference to others, Police Chief Jakari Young announced Wednesday during a news conference. 

The Daytona Beach Police Department said its investigation began around 2 a.m. Thursday, June 23, when a man, later identified as 19-year-old Telan Mann, was found shot and killed on a sidewalk near Oak Tree Circle and Forest Glen Boulevard. Details on the circumstances that led to the shooting or information about a suspect were not immediately available at the time.

Police arrested Jakari Webb on a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of 19-year-old Telan Mann on June 23, 2022. (Photo via Daytona Beach Police Department)

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After more than 100 hours of reviewing surveillance footage from nearby businesses, including surveillance video from Bethune Cookman University, Chief Young told reporters Wednesday they were able to track down the suspect, 19-year-old Jakari Webb's movements before and after Mann was killed. Authorities tracked his location to a home on Garden Street, a couple of miles away from where the shooting happened. 

The Daytona Beach Police Department shared this photo of Telan Mann, the 19-year-old man found shot to death on June 23, 2022. 

Webb was taken into custody by Daytona Beach police soon after officers found him while serving a search warrant at a home on Garden Street around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 28. A handgun was also found at the home. He faces a first-degree murder charge and is being held without bond at the Volusia County Jail.  Chief Young said there are discussions being had with the State Attorney's Office about possibly tackling on a hate crime charge, too.

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Mann is also facing a probation violation charge, as well as a charge for resisting arrest after he tried to run from SWAT and K-9 officers when he was found at the Garden Street home. 

"Based on what we were able to ascertain, the suspect had some concern that he was going to be outed by our victim as far as his sexual preference, so to say," Young said. " So that's what we were able to gather as far as a motive for our shooting," 

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Law enforcement said the two had been communicating back and forth on social media since February, and the day of the shooting is believed to be the first time they decided to meet in person.

"You have two 19-year-olds who barely lived," Chief Young said. "They just started their lives. You basically have two lives lost one to the grave the other to the prison system."

FOX35 spoke to the Mann’s friends the day his body was found. They called Mann the life of the party, energetic and positive. "If you were going through it good or bad, he was the one that was always there for you no matter what. He didn't want to see nobody down at all," said a friend who did not want to be identified.