Juveniles charged with painting racial slurs on Lake Mary SUV

Two juveniles are facing hate crime charges, accused of damaging and painting racial slurs on a Seminole County man's SUV.

Mutema Kudakwashe has lived quietly on Serenity Place in the Lake Mary area for past 16 years. 

Kudakwashe said he parked his vehicle on the cul-de-sac of Serenity Place around 8:40 p.m. Monday, March 16.

When he returned less than two hours later, his front signal light was broken and his SUV was covered with hand painted racial slurs, including the "N-word."

Deputies said the two juveniles, whose names are not being released, both confessed to being behind the incident.  They were arrested on March 23 and March 24 for criminal mischief, which due to the nature of the incident has been reclassified as a hate crime, which is a first-degree misdemeanor.

“It’s a relief rather than just wondering. I might be standing right next to the person someday but now we know who did it and it’s always better to know who do these things so you’re not left in the dark,” shared Seminole County Resident Mutema Kudakwashe.

Kudawashe said he always knew he was the victim of a hate crime but at first deputies would only tell News 13 they were investigating the incident as criminal mischief.

In the arrest report, deputies revealed two days after the incident, they met a neighbor who told them he saw several alarming racially motivated text messages that may have been connected to the case.

“It’s also good to know that someone in the neighborhood helped in a way to find these youths,” added the 65-year-old man, who is originally from Guyana in the West Indies.

Deputies quickly tracked the juvenile boys down and interviewed them with their parents’ permission.

One of the teenagers was arrested at Lake Mary High School.

Kudakwashe knows the teenagers will likely only face community service for a misdemeanor, so he’s willing to forgive the teenagers on one condition.

“I’m thinking that a written letter of apology probably from these kids to my family because my family definitely was impacted by the occurrence,” Kudakwashe concluded.