American Teen Who Killed Muslim Refugee for Raping His Sister Sentenced to Prison-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
An American teenager was sentenced to 30 years in prison for killing a Muslim refugee who raped the teen’s 7-year-old sister.
The Truth:
There’s no truth to reports that an American teen who killed a Muslim refugee for raping his sister was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The false rumor started with an unofficial Facebook page dedicated to White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The page posted a video that shows a crying teenager with the text: “American teenage whom killed Muslim refugee for raping his 7 year old sister sentenced to 30 years in prison.” The post then encourages readers to like and share if they want the boy set free. Within days, the post had been shared more than 52,000 times.
https://www.facebook.com/sarahhukabeesanders/videos/546114939095113/
The post sparked plenty of outrage — but it’s not based in reality. The teenager who appears in the photo is Dylan Schumaker. The 17-year-old boy from Buffalo boy was convicted of murdering his girlfriend’s 23-month-old son. The photo shows Schumaker crying during a sentencing hearing in 2014. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for second degree murder in the toddler’s death. Shumaker reportedly smothered the toddler with a pillow and punched him because he was crying.
And a second image that appears in the video shows a different man in court. A New Jersey man who was convicted of murdering a 6-year-old boy and raping the boy’s 12-year-old sister can be seen in that image. The man, Osvaldo Rivera, was sentenced to life in prison for the crimes in 2012. He can be seen crying during his sentencing hearing in the photo.
Given all that, we’re calling this one “fiction.” This is similar to an earlier rumor we investigated. In that version, former Army Sgt. Gregory Hayes was sentenced to prison for beating his daughter’s rapist to death. That one’s unproven.