Two baby-faced Florida teens allegedly lured a 14-year-old girl into the woods before they fatally shot her and set her remains on fire over an online dispute.
Danika Troy was last seen by her mother on Nov. 30, and was reported missing as a runaway the next day, around 7 a.m., Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters at a press conference Thursday.
“Unbeknownst to the mother, Danika was murdered the previous night,” Johnson said.
Troy’s body was found discarded in a wooded area off of Kimberly Rd in Pace, Florida — 17 miles north of Pensacola near the southern coast of the Florida Panhandle — at around 11 a.m. on Dec. 2.
Teenagers Kimahri Blevins, 14, and Gabriel Williams, 16, were identified as the primary murder suspects and charged with first-degree premeditated murder.
Troy is believed to have died of multiple gunshot wounds before her body was set on fire.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said.
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old, you’re 14, you’re 16, shoot her multiple times, then they set her on fire.”
The three teens were “acquaintances” from school and had a falling out over Thanksgiving break, police said.
A witness told investigators that Blevins revealed he and Williams “planned the murder of Danika” with the initial plan only to shoot the girl once, Law and Crime reported, citing an arrest report.
The alleged murderous teens wanted Troy killed because she slighted them when she blocked Blevins’ social media account and insulted Williams, calling him “worthless and a gang-banger.”
Williams is accused of taking things further when the two juveniles burned Troy’s body.
Blevins was caught sneaking back home at 11 p.m. on the night of the alleged murder, telling his mother he had gone out to smoke cigarettes but she didn’t smell anything on him, according to the outlet.
He was questioned by detectives and confirmed he and Troy “had a falling out and he blocked her on social media.”
Williams cried to detectives that the 14-year-old girl had made the “hurtful comments,” before he was arrested.
Johnson said there wasn’t a “clear motive” as the suspects’ stories haven’t lined up with the evidence.
“This is what Major Crimes calls a groundball, the evidence pointed to them immediately and they took them into custody immediately,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately for the Troy family they have to go through this.”
The teens have had “run-ins” with law enforcement in the past, but Johnson wouldn’t disclose if they had previous arrests.
Officials haven’t ruled out charging any of the parents in Troy’s murder as they are “still looking into it.”
Johnson revealed the county has had “more homicides this year than normal,” but Troy’s murder is the first “juvenile on juvenile” since he was elected sheriff in 2016.
“You don’t want to go out to see a burnt child with bullet holes, that is not something you sign up for,” Johnson said.
Officials are hoping the two teens will be tried as adults.
“Hopefully, they go to adult prison, which is where they need to go. You do an adult crime, you got to do the adult time,” Johnson said.
The teens are being held in juvenile detention.
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