Palmetto Ridge High student stabbed to death after getting off school bus - PHOTOS/VIDEO

Students react to stabbing death

Students recall stabbing, tension on school bus

RAW VIDEO: Students exit bus after stabbing

Student are reunited with parents at Palmetto ...

NAPLES — What may have started as a spitball fight between two teens escalated into a stabbing death at a bus stop on Monday afternoon.

A 14-year-old is accused of stabbing his 16-year-old Palmetto Ridge High School classmate on the corner of 47th Avenue NE and Immokalee Road in Golden Gate Estates moments after stepping off the bus.

Dylan Reid Nuno, a junior, was pronounced dead at NCH North Collier Hospital.

Jorge Saavedra, a freshman, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

“The charge may change, but we are comfortable with that charge right now,” said Chief Jim Williams with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

The horrific act shocked classmates who were on the bus with the teens just moments earlier.

Dalton Sousa, 16, a junior at Palmetto Ridge, said Saavedra rides the bus all the time, and Nuno rides infrequently.

He said he never saw Nuno as a violent person.

“I’ve never seen him in a fight,” Sousa said.

Sousa said Saavedra was a class clown.

Dylan Nuno’s cousin, Erik Omar Nuno, 22, of North Naples, said his cousin was a sweet boy with a great personality.

“He was just a down-to-earth boy,” Erik Nuno said of Dylan. “He was like my little brother.”

Erik Nuno called Saavedra “a coward.”

Sousa said Nuno and Saaverda almost came to blows while still on the school bus. The two got off the bus and began fighting, he said. The bus pulled away and drove down the street.

That’s when deputies say the stabbing took place.

Witnesses say Saavedra then ran off into the woods.

“I was surprised” said Sousa. He didn’t see the fight but when the bus doubled back around after dropping students off, he and others on the bus saw the crime scene.

“Everyone on the bus is nervous and upset,” Sousa said.

Nuno and Saavedra had been arguing since the beginning of the school year due to a spitball fight, Sousa said. He wasn’t sure who started it.

The argument escalated Monday.

Six students remained on the bus until Sheriff’s Office investigators interviewed them, Collier County School District spokesman Joe Landon said in an e-mail.

The students were transported by bus back to Palmetto Ridge and the Sheriff’s Office released them, Landon said.

Carlos Sanchez, 16, was a friend and former wrestling teammate of Nuno. He said Nuno transferred to Palmetto Ridge from Lely High School this year.

Sanchez was at wrestling practice when he got the news of the stabbing. Sanchez remembers Nuno as being likeable and outgoing.

“He was a fun dude. He was always fun to be around,” Sanchez said.

Esteban Rua, 17, another teammate of Nuno’s, also remembers his playful side. “He was a funny kid ... I’ll miss seeing him around school.”

Hours after the stabbing, investigators remained on the scene gathering evidence. Blood droplets stained the street and driveways throughout the area and police helicopters hovered above.

The School District’s crisis team counselors will be at Palmetto Ridge before students arrive on Tuesday morning to provide support to students and staff.