iPhone Murder: Teen Prosecuted as Prepaid, Regional Carriers Get iPhone 5

**Editor’s note: Please click here for our list of August’s hottest selling smartphones to see how the iPhone 4S stacked up against the competition.**

One week after the iPhone 5 went on sale and the same day regional and prepaid carriers got their hands on the device, a Chicago-area teenager was charged with killing a man over one of Apple’s iconic devices.

18-year-old Charles Bragg of Sauk Village, Ill., is accused of shooting a man who he believed stole his brother’s iPhone a few months ago. Police say he was identified in surveillance video and by a second victim in the shooting that killed 20-year-old Zonnie Johnson, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Sadly, this isn’t the first time crime has broken out stemming from a dispute over a smartphone. There have been numerous reports of robbery and assault involving these expensive devices. But murders have been rare.

Meantime, a handful of regional carriers that just started selling the iPhone 4S earlier this year, are now selling the sixth-generation Apple smartphone the iPhone 5 many at a discount.

nTelos, Appalachian Wireless and Cellcom are all selling the device for $50 less than Apple and the big wireless carriers. You can get the 16GB for $149, 32GB for $249 and 64GB version for $349, PCMag first revealed earlier this week.

GCI of Alaska and C Spire Wireless are also selling the iPhone 5, as is national prepaid carrier Cricket Communications.

Although it’s been widely criticized in its debut week for problems with its new Maps app, the iPhone 5 is Apple’s first smartphone that is compatible with speedy LTE networks. It also boasts improvements to its camera, battery life and Siri voice-recognition system. And its four-inch screen bigger than its traditional 3.3-inch offering might keep some customers from switching to bigger-screen Android brands.