Dog the Bounty Hunter’s stepson charged with deadly shooting

By WFTX Digital Team

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    NAPLES, Florida (WFTX) — New court documents are revealing disturbing information about the 13-year-old shot and killed, and deputies said his father pulled the trigger.

According to documents, Gergory Zecca is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child. Deputies said Zecca, another man and the child were “playing with guns” at a Collier County apartment complex in July.

The shooting happened at the Crest Apartments on July 19, 2025, at 8:08 p.m.

According to court documents, the person who lives at the home called 911 after the shooting, telling dispatchers he believed there was a fatality from an “accidental firing.”

“I think we have a fatality,” the man said during the 911 call. He told dispatchers someone was shot but “didn’t shoot themselves,” documents said.

Deputies said they found two guns on the kitchen island. Jones was performing CPR on the child, who had been shot above the sternum, the report said.

The 13-year-old did not survive. The medical examiner determined the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the lower neck and ruled it a homicide. A doctor said Zecca was impaired by alcohol at the time he shot and killed the child, documents said.

The man who called 911 told investigators that Zecca inserted a magazine into a gun, pointed it at the teenager and the weapon discharged. The group had been drinking at a local bowling alley before returning to the house, where Zecca was practicing drawing the firearms in the kitchen, deputies said.

Deputies noted that Zecca smelled like alcohol. They also found marijuana at the scene.

After the shooting, the report said Zecca was emotionally distraught, expressing suicidal thoughts and asking deputies to shoot him. He was Baker Acted following the incident.

A witness told investigators that Zecca worked with his stepfather, who they identified as “Dog the Bounty Hunter.”

The group had been at the bowling alley celebrating the boy’s last day in Florida before returning to Colorado as part of a split custody arrangement, documents said. The child had been in Florida for 2.5 months.

Zecca is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday afternoon for a first appearance.

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