Deltona man threatened to kill late cancer activist's family at funeral, officials say

A Deltona man was arrested Monday after he posted threats on Facebook toward the family of late cancer activist Tyler Trent, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.

John Matthew Pinkham, 39, was arrested at his home on Duncan Street and charged with making threats to kill or injure, deputies said. They said Pinkham used alias “Julie Homan” to create multiple posts on Trent’s Facebook page, following the news of the 20-year-old Purdue student’s death last week.

DELTONA, Fla. — The posts included threats of violence at a Celebration of Life scheduled Tuesday, and read, "Can't wait till I choke the life out of you…funerals coming, and I will appear like the reaper."

The posts continued: “Just wait until y’all hear what I do at his funeral… I promise I will make headlines…I will kill his mother... just watch. I will be talked about forever…this is no idol threat.”

TRENDING NOW:

Pinkham remains jailed without bail at Volusia County Corrections.

A post by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office read, in part: “Trent’s spirit and positive attitude during his battle with bone cancer drew national attention and helped raise more than $100,000 for cancer research through the Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment and The V Foundation.”

Click/tap/swipe here for more information on the Tyler Trent Cancer Research Endowment at Purdue.

Today our detectives arrested an Internet Tough Guy in Deltona who made death threats against the mother of @BoilerFootball's @theTylerTrent. Indianapolis Metro Police made this possible! In honor of Tyler (inspiration to us all) please join me & give to https://t.co/em5ksxaY5d pic.twitter.com/BmzT6CYHlX
— Mike Chitwood (@SheriffChitwood) January 7, 2019