ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

12-year-old among suspects in killing of 3 teens in Florida

This file photo shows a police cruiser. A teenager and a 12-year-old have been charged in the deaths of three teens in Florida. This file photo shows a police cruiser. A teenager and a 12-year-old have been charged in the deaths of three teens in Florida.
Share
OCALA, Fla. -

A teenager and a 12-year-old have been charged in the deaths of three teens whose bodies were found along a Florida roadside and in the trunk of a partially-submerged vehicle, authorities said Friday. Another teen is being sought.

Law enforcement officials were "shocked" by the young ages of the victims and alleged killers, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said at a news conference. The older suspect in custody is 17, and police are still searching for a 16-year-old.

The two suspects in custody are charged with first-degree murder. The state attorney's office is reviewing the case to determine whether the suspects will be charged as adults. The Associated Press does not publish the names of juveniles unless they have been charged with adult crimes.

The shooting suspects and victims were all in a vehicle belonging to 16-year-old victim Layla Silvernail when the killings occurred, Woods said. Authorities have not released the names of the other two victims, a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. Woods said the three who died were in the vehicle on their own free will.

The night of the March 30 shooting, deputies found Silvernail on the side of a road in rural Marion County in northern Florida. She later died from a gunshot wound, the sheriff said.

The next morning, deputies were called to a nearby location where a teenage boy was found dead, also from a gunshot wound, Woods said.

On April 1, investigators found Silvernail's vehicle partially submerged in a small pond near Ocklawaha, about 9 miles (14 km) from where the bodies were found. They searched the vehicle and found a teen girl dead in the trunk.

He said all of the youths were involved in gangs, but authorities have nothing specific pointing to a rivalry. "However, in some shape or another, each were associated with a gang," the sheriff said.

"At some point these three individuals turned on our three victims," Woods said. "They fled the scenes, but left a lot of evidence in their wake."

Woods said the two suspects confessed to shooting the victim found in the vehicle's trunk. Woods said the teens got the guns while breaking into cars, but he didn't provide many other details about the shootings or how many guns were involved.

Woods noted the quick actions of law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Marshal's Office and the Ocala Police Department in solving the crime. He also commended local citizens for providing tips that led to the two arrests.

Woods said the 12-year-old was arrested March 31 by Ocala police following an "affray" at school, and he was already in custody when charges were filed in the teens' slayings. The 17-year-old suspect was arrested at his home Thursday night.

Woods expressed frustration that juveniles are not being held accountable for their actions. "We need to hold them accountable and then hope that we can change them," he said. "They deserve the full extent of the law."

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.