Florida — Today in mainstream media clickbait, we learn that a cam model is somehow responsible for a Florida man’s execution-style murder of three members of his family.

BuzzFeed News says: “A Florida man allegedly killed his mom, dad, and brother after a feud brought on by him sending about $200,000 of their money to a so-called ‘cam girl’ in Bulgaria.” (Why the sarcastic air quotes?)

The New York Post says: “Man sent $200K in stolen cash to cam girl before killing family.”

The Straits Times says: “US man spends over $250,000 on ‘cam girl,’ kills parents and brother for trying to make him quit watching porn.” (Again with the air quotes!)

It goes on and on. You get the idea. Here’s what actually happened: A Florida man killed his parents and one of his two brothers after he was kicked out of the parents’ home and accused of stealing $210,000 from his family. The money was given, allegedly, to a woman he met on a cam site.

Grant Amato, age 29, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of his parents, Chad (59) and Margaret (61) Amato, and his brother Cody, age 31. The bodies were discovered on January 25 at the parents’ home in Chuluota, Florida — an unincorporated area northeast of Orlando. Deputies entered the parents’ residence as part of a requested wellness check initiated after Cody Amato, who also lived in the dwelling, had not shown up to work.

A third brother, Jason, was not harmed nor was he present during the time of the murders.

According to Cody Amato’s girlfriend, Sloan Young, Grant Amato had stolen $60,000 and guns from his brother. He had allegedly stolen the money to talk to a Bulgarian woman he met online. Young also said that Cody Amato told her he was afraid Grant “would kill everyone.” Jason Amato told investigators that Grant Amato had stolen $150,000 from their father.

In an interview with investigators, Grant Amato said he had argued with his parents over his relationship with the cam model and that his parents told him he could have no contact with her if he wanted to continue living at their home. He also said he began a 60-day internet- and sex-addiction treatment program in Fort Lauderdale in late December at his parents’ request, but he left after just a few weeks.

Grant Amato has an arrest history, and a report from June of last year shows he was suspected of stealing vials of the sedative Propofol from Florida Orlando Hospital. He allegedly told investigators he hadn’t been using or selling the drug. Instead, he claimed he had been administering it to patients who he believed needed more comfort/sedation. No charges appear to have been filed in the case.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit from the Seminole County Sheriff Office, Young told investigators that Grant Amato had been “going downhill” after being kicked out of nursing anesthetist school and losing his prior job following an arrest. Presumably, she means the sedative-related issue described above.

Here’s the thing… This is horrible! Like, standalone horrible. And yet, media coverage feels compelled to describe cam sites as porn sites and invoke the mystique of some Bulgarian “cam girl” — in sarcastic air quotes, no less. Interestingly, there was no discussion of the model who allegedly got all the spoils from Grant Amato in any of the coverage I have read so far.

It’s almost like they were using her for clickbait…

A Florida man allegedly killed his mom, dad, and brother after a feud brought on by him sending about $200,000 of their money to a so-called "cam girl" in Bulgaria https://t.co/Dk79u5bInz

— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) January 30, 2019

Reporting from NBC News and BuzzFeed News informed this piece.

Image via the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office.