Seventeen-year-old Dominic Carboni of Schwenksville faces several charges, including first-degree murder and robbery, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.
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He's accused of killing 17-year-old Skyler Fox, of Stowe, and 18-year-old Brandon Bacote-Byer, of Lower Pottsgrove, around 11:33 p.m. Monday in the area of Fourth and Johnson streets.
Police responding to 911 calls of shots fired arrived on the scene to find the two deceased victims lying on the ground near Fox's vehicle.
Officers recovered numerous fired cartridge casings, one projectile and a 9 mm handgun with an obliterated serial number at the scene.
Witnesses tell police that Fox had a backpack on his shoulder as he crawled away from his vehicle, but minutes later the backpack was gone and Fox was no longer moving, the D.A.'s Office said.
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Investigators say Carboni was meeting Fox to buy marijuana.
"Recovered text data showed that Fox and Carboni had arranged the meeting and marijuana purchase through a series of messages throughout the day, beginning at 3:08 p.m. and ending at 11:22 p.m., just 11 minutes before the shooting when both Fox and Carboni's cellphones were in the area of the shooting," the D.A.'s Office said.
"Text records also showed that at 11:45 p.m. that same evening, just minutes after the shooting, Carboni deleted his messaging history with Fox."
It's unclear what the second victim's role was in the deal.
"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 District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement.
An autopsy was conducted on both and determined the teens died of multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death was homicide.
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According to officials, surveillance video showed a maroon-colored Ford pickup truck fleeing the area after the killings. They say it's the same color and model as a Ford truck owned by Carboni's father, which he had been seen driving earlier in the evening.
Carboni was charged with two counts of First-Degree Murder, Second-Degree Murder, Third-Degree Murder and Robbery.
He was remanded to the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3.
"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," Steele said.