A 16-year-old has been charged with manslaughter in the death of 15-year-old Jaden Law, who was found shot inside a fitting room at Dick's House of Sport at the Brandon Exchange on July 10, 2026. Hillsborough County Sheriff's detectives announced the charge against Ahmad Webb on September 14, capping a two-month investigation that hinged on surveillance footage and a handgun pulled from a nearby retention pond, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.
The shooting was reported to 911 by a Dick's House of Sport employee at 4:28 p.m. on July 10, with deputies arriving inside four minutes and finding Law deceased in the fitting room, according to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office records cited by the Tampa Free Press. Deputies detained two people who fled the shopping center within six minutes of the original dispatch call, the outlet reported. Sheriff Chad Chronister addressed the case directly in a statement shared through the department's HCSO
social media account, saying, “This investigation has never stopped.”
Detectives determined through surveillance footage that Webb, Law, and a third juvenile entered the store together and walked into the fitting room area, with video showing Webb fleeing shortly after employees heard a gunshot. The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner's Office classified Law's death as a homicide resulting from a single gunshot wound, as noted by Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Webb was ultimately arrested and booked on a charge of manslaughter with a weapon, according to transcript records tied to the case.
Ballistics Trail Led Back to a Retention Pond
The day after the shooting, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Dive Team recovered a handgun from a retention pond south of the Brandon Exchange. Laboratory ballistics and forensic testing later confirmed that weapon was used in the fatal shooting, per a report from Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. That physical evidence and the surveillance footage were described in accounts of the investigation.
According to Richard Hornsby Law, Florida treats manslaughter with a weapon as a first-degree felony when a firearm is involved.
The Victim Was 15
Jaden Law was 15 years old.
The shooting happened inside Dick's House of Sport at the Brandon Exchange mall. The shopping center remained open through its regular closing time that evening, per HCSO.
Second Armed-Teen Incident at the Same Mall Within Weeks
The fatal shooting was not the first recent brush with armed juveniles at the Brandon Exchange. Less than three weeks earlier, in June 2026, Hillsborough County deputies arrested two teenagers, ages 15 and 16, after a foot chase in which the suspects discarded an AR-15-style rifle and a handgun on mall grounds, as Hoodline reported at the time.
Other Recent Incidents Involving Young People
The June mall incident was among several publicly documented Hillsborough County cases involving young people and guns. In a separate Brandon case on Aug. 12, a bystander was injured at an apartment complex, and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said it arrested 17-year-old Key’rion Sincere Austin the next day on multiple firearm-related charges. In a separate Tampa homicide investigation, HCSO said 17-year-old Trevaun Johnson was found dead inside a vehicle on Oct. 21, 2025, and an 18-year-old was later arrested on murder and robbery-related charges, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Sheriff's Office investigated the shooting, according to HCSO.
Florida law addresses the sale and possession of firearms. How the handgun recovered from the retention pond made its way into a minor's hands has not been detailed by investigators.
