‘He Was Pleading For His Life’: Teen Shot to Death, Allegedly While Trying To Flee From Registered Sex Offender

A 16-year-old Pennsylvania boy was shot to death, allegedly while trying to flee naked from a convicted sex offender.

Neighbors reported seeing the teen running through the neighborhood screaming “help me” just moments before he was shot to death Saturday afternoon.

“He was pleading for his life,” witness Tracy Burton told Penn Live.

Orlando P. Duarte, 45, is now facing charges of criminal homicide and prohibited possession of a firearm after authorities say he chased naked 16-year-old Kyan King through the streets allegedly firing “multiple shots” at the teen.

District Attorney Francis Chardo told local station WHP that a citizen tried to intervene and cover King up with a towel as he was attempting to flee.

Orlando Duarte Photo: Harrisburg Bureau of Police

“The boy reported he had been raped and the man that raped him was trying to kill him,” Chardo said.

Duarte allegedly arrived moments later with a gun in hand.

“Duarte chased him down, the boy fell to the ground and Duarte fired two shots into him on the ground,” Chardo said. “Those wounds ultimately causing his death.”

The Harrisburg Police were called to the area of North 18^th and Forster Streets around 12:55 p.m. Saturday after receiving a report of shots fired.

Witnesses directed the officers to Duarte, who was allegedly attempting to flee on foot.

“Officers were able to locate the fleeing suspect, give chase and take the suspect into custody,” police said.

Harrisburg Police Sgt. Kyle Gautsch said in a press conference streamed by WHP shortly after the shooting that officers recovered a handgun in Duarte’s possession at the time of the arrest.

Officers found King suffering from his gunshot wounds and tried to render aid but “unfortunately he succumbed to his gunshot wounds at the hospital,” Gautsch said.

Gautsch told Oxygen.com that he did not believe King was able to tell officers anything before he died.

Investigators are now trying to determine the extent of the relationship between Duarte and King.

“It is to our understanding that they did know each other prior to this,” Gautsch said at the press conference. “It’s our understanding that this wasn’t just a (happenstance) incident where he was just pulled off the street.”

Gautsch also told Oxygen.com that during a search of Duarte’s home, investigators found a note that appeared to be written by the victim. He declined to release any details about what the note said and said investigators are working now to confirm that King had been the author.  

Gautsch said the investigation remains ongoing and additional charges in the case could be possible.

Duarte is a lifetime registered sex offender and was added to Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law registry in 2015 for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, according to Penn Live.

After the teen was killed his family set up a memorial on the street where he died, complete with balloons and 16 candles to honor each year of his life, according to local station WHTM.

“We all loved Ky Ky. We love him a lot,” his sister Nyairrea Jones told the station. “My little brother, everything about him, I miss it all.”

Family member Destiny Williams also remembered the slain teen Saturday.

“He had a very big laugh that you could hear all the way upstairs on the 3^rd floor,” she said. “You could always hear him laughing and talking and everything.”