Background: News footage of the scene in Pace, Fla., where Danika Troy's body was found (WEAR). Insets (left to right): Gabriel Williams, Kimahri Blevins, and Danika Troy (Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office).
Two Florida teenagers have been charged with murder after police said they lured a 14-year-old girl to the woods and fatally shot her before burning her body.
Gabriel Williams, 16, and Kimahri Blevins, 14, were both arrested on Wednesday and charged with first-degree premeditated murder, days after the burned remains of Danika Troy were found in a wooded area in Pace, Florida. According to arrest reports obtained by Law&Crime, a witness told police that Blevins and Williams planned to kill Troy after she insulted Williams on social media and blocked Blevins' account.
The purported slight happened during the teens' Thanksgiving break.
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According to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office, Troy was first reported missing on Monday by her mother, who told police that she last saw her daughter at 10 p.m. Sunday. On Monday morning, Troy's mother noticed that her daughter's electric scooter was missing.
A day later, a passerby reported seeing a dead body in a wooded area. Police responded to the scene where they found evidence of a fire, "multiple live ammunition rounds," and a charred human body. A shoe was found that matched the description of the ones Troy's mother said her daughter was wearing when she last saw her.
Police also found what they believed was Troy's electronic scooter. On Wednesday, investigators identified the remains as Troy's. During the police investigation, an unnamed witness reported that Blevins allegedly said that he and Williams "planned the murder of Danika." Blevins allegedly told the witness that "the initial plan was to shoot Danika once," but that Williams allegedly took things further. Both boys burned Troy's body after shooting her dead, police said.
After speaking to the witness, detectives went to Blevins' home, where his mother allowed them to talk with her teenage son. Detectives sat Blevins in the back of their unmarked car, where they read him his Miranda rights, and he told them that the last time he had any contact with Troy was during their Thanksgiving weekend break. Blevins allegedly said that he and Troy "had a falling out and he blocked her on social media." When detectives asked about what happened in the woods, Blevins requested an attorney.
When detectives spoke to Blevins' mother, she told them that she caught her son "sneaking" back into the house at around 11 p.m. on Sunday. When she asked her son what he was doing, he allegedly told her he was smoking a cigarette, but she did not smell any smoke on him.
Police arrested Blevins and went to question Williams. At the police station, Williams told detectives that Troy made "hurtful comments" to him, calling him "worthless and a gang-banger." Williams was also placed under arrest.
During a press conference, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson said, "The motive that we're getting doesn't fit the forensics or any facts of the case." Johnson also stated during the press conference that Williams "stole his mother's handgun and shot Danika Troy." He described the relationship between the three teenagers as "friends, supposedly."
Both boys were charged with first-degree premeditated murder. They are being held at the Santa Rosa Juvenile Detention Center without bond.
