Trial Postponed For Suspect In 2024 Death Of Teen At Cottage Hill Party

November 18, 2025

Trial has been postponed for a now 21-year-old charged in the April 2024 fatal shooting of a 16-year-old at a party at a Cottage Hill home.

Ethan Alexander O’Brien remains in the Escambia County Jail without bond on charges of  second-degree negligent manslaughter, tampering with evidence and improper exhibition of a firearm.

Jury selection was set to begin Monday for O’Brien’s trial, but Judge John Simon granted the state’s request for a continuance. The State Attorney’s Office requested the continuance because prosecutors learned that a key expert witness in the case, Medical Examiner Dr. Michael Pagacz, is traveling out of the country. O’Brien’s attorney did not file any objections.

O’Brien is now set to appear in court February 2026.

The investigation determined that during a large gathering at the residence, O’Brien, then 19, was showing off his firearm, at which time it accidentally discharged, hitting 16-year-old Bryson Allen.

The incident happened about 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 12. 2024, at a home in the 600 block of Wishbone Road. Allen was pronounced deceased at the scene, and investigators said O’Brien fled the scene.

Pictured top: The scene on Wishbone Road in Cottage Hill late Friday night, April 12, after a teen was shot and killed. Pictured below: Crime scene tape still surrounded the home the following morning.  NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News