17-year-old arrested in fatal shooting of two other teens in Pottstown

A 17-year-old boy was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two other teens on Monday in Pottstown in what authorities described as a drug deal gone bad.

Dominic Carboni, of Schwenksville, is accused of killing 17-year-old Skyler Fox and 18-year-old Brandon Bacote-Byer around 11:30 p.m. in the area of Fourth and Johnson Streets in Pottstown, said Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele and Pottstown Police Chief Mick Markovich said in a news release Thursday night.

Fox and Bacote-Byer were students at Pottsgrove High School. Carboni is enrolled at Montgomery County Community College, authorities said.

Fox, who was shot multiple times in the torso, and Bacote-Byer, who was shot twice in the head, were pronounced dead at the scene near Fox’s 1992 Mercedes Benz, according to the criminal complaint filed against Carboni. At the shooting scene, police recovered several spent shell casings, a projectile, and a Taurus G3 9mm handgun with an obliterated serial number.

A witness told police they saw Fox crawling away from his car with a backpack on his shoulder, but minutes later the backpack was missing and Fox was no longer moving, investigators said.

Investigators said they recovered Snapchat messages between Fox and Carboni showing that Carboni wanted to buy several hundred dollars worth of marijuana from Fox.

Robbery appeared to be the motive, according to the criminal complaint.

“This is another senseless killing of two teenagers over drugs, committed by a 17-year-old defendant who, for a variety of reasons, could not legally possess a gun. It is a tragedy for these families, and it’s got to stop,” said Steele. “We are working diligently to go after people who buy guns and sell them to kids, sell them to convicted felons and sell them to others who can’t legally buy their own guns.”

Carboni, who also was charged with robbery and related offenses, was being held without bail at the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Nov. 3.