No charges will be filed against the 16-year-old who shot and killed Melanie Mesen Medina, the 15-year-old girl whose body was found dumped earlier this week along an Orange County roadway, deputies said.

  • No charges filed against 16-year-old who shot, killed other teen
  • Orange County detectives ruled the shooting accidental
  • 22-year-old driver faces 4 charges, including manslaughter

The Orange County Sheriff's Office on Thursday said Medina's death was ruled an accidental shooting. No charges will be filed against the teenager who fired the gun, detectives said.

The driver of the vehicle, 22-year-old Ramsys Cruz-Abreu, faces several charges, including tampering with physical evidence, manslaughter, possession of cannabis and unlawful disposal of human remains. 

Cruz-Abreu was charged with tampering on Thursday, and Orange County homicide detectives announced the three additional charges Friday.

Medina was found dead by a passerby at about 8:29 a.m. Tuesday near Ziegler Road, just west of Orange Blossom Trail. Investigators believe her body was dumped there during the overnight hours Monday into Tuesday.

Cruz-Abreu was taken in for questioning last week and said he and two other females, Medina and a 16-year-old female, went to get donuts at a Krispy Kreme near the Mall at Millenia on Monday night. As he was parking a vehicle, he said he "heard a loud bang and a bright flash from the back seat of the vehicle."

According to an arrest affidavit, Cruz-Abreu said he dropped off the 16-year-old girl after dumping Medina's body and then drove to Poinciana and threw his cellphone into a lake.

He also told detectives that he cleaned up blood in the interior of his car and taped over the bullet holes, according to the arrest affidavit.