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Plea agreement reached in case of Southport teen shot and killed while playing video games

Pedro Castillo-Salmeron, 20, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in the killing of 14-year-old Jonathon Elliott in an Edinburgh home.

EDINBURGH, Ind. — Pedro Castillo-Salmeron pleaded guilty to reckless homicide as a part of a plea agreement in the deadly shooting of a 14-year-old boy at an Edinburgh home in late April.

According to court documents, 20-year-old Pedro Castillo Salmeron was playing with a handgun when it went off. 

Sitting on a nearby couch was Jonathon Elliott, of Southport, who was playing video games. According to court documents, the bullet hit Elliott in the chest. 

"I was playing video games, and then, I felt something hot," Elliott is said to have told officers before being rushed to the hospital.

Elliott's brother called 911 and while he was making that call, Salmeron allegedly hid the gun.

NOTE: The above video is from a previous report on the deadly shooting.

When police arrived, Salmeron, who was thought to have fled, eventually came out and was arrested. Police searched inside and outside the home, but they were not able to find the gun.

When read his rights by officers and asked if he wanted to talk, Salmeron asked for an attorney. 

"He didn't deserve this," said Christina Abney, Elliott's mother, to 13News at the time. "He was a sweetheart. Everybody that met Jon loved Jon."

Abney said her son was full of life and that Salmeron was her foster son.

"Pedro is my foster son, and we were working on his citizenship, and he just shot him. I don't even know why. I don't have any clue why," Abney said.

Abney said the shooting wasn't an accident.

"You don't pull a trigger on a gun on accident. He pointed it at my son, and he shot my son in the chest," Abney said.

Abney described her son as someone who loved video games and making everyone laugh.

"When he was little, he was sitting in the back seat playing some song, and he's just back there bobbing his head and singing. That's just Jon and never going to see it again," Abney said.

Salmeron will be sentenced Oct. 5.

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