The mother of a Florida teenager who was brutally murdered this week has spoken out following the arrest of two teenage suspects.
Fourteen year old Danika Troy was discovered dead in a wooded area of Pace, Florida, on Tuesday after her mother, Ashley Troy, reported her missing. A passerby found her body, which had been burned and bore gunshot wounds.
Santa Rose County police officers arrested Gabriel Williams, 16, and Kimahri Blevins, 14, on Wednesday, charging them with first-degree premeditated murder in connection with her death. The boys are alleged to have lured her into the woods, shot her and set her on fire.
An investigation is still ongoing, but authorities suspect that the two boys planned the murder after a public falling out with the “supposed friends” over the Thanksgiving break, during which she allegedly insulted Williams and blocked Blevins online.
Troy’s mother, a devout Baptist, expressed sympathy for the boys, whom she seemed to describe as her daughter’s friends.
“I don’t blame those boys. I blame evil influence,” the heartbroken mother told The New York Post via text message. “I don’t hate them, I hate what they did to my baby.”
She later added, “She loved them, and they brutally murdered her.”
However, she stated that she wants “nothing less than for them to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
A candlelit vigil is set to take place for the murdered teenager at her family’s church, Avalon Baptist Church in Milton, on Monday evening. A GoFundMe page has been established to help with funeral expenses.
“She was beautiful and loved Jesus,” Ashley said of her daughter. “If anything would make this sacrifice worth it, it would be leading others to Christ.”
The mother revealed that their church, Avalon Baptist Church in nearby Milton, has rallied around her family during this tragic time.
Following the discovery of her body, police initiated an investigation and interviewed witnesses linked to the crime who allege Blevins told them he and Williams “planned the murder of Danika.”
The witness stated “the initial plan was to shoot Danika once.”
However, the situation escalated even further when the boys set her body alight, according to the police.
Blevins reportedly confessed to officers in the back seat of their unmarked car after his mother gave permission for him to speak with them and he was read his Miranda Rights. He claimed the last time he spoke to Troy was over the Thanksgiving weekend break.
He mentioned he and Troy “had a falling out and he blocked her on social media.”
He asked for a lawyer to be present when officers questioned what happened in the woods.
Blevins’ mother reported seeing her son “sneaking” back into their home around 11 p. m. Sunday, claiming he had gone out to smoke a cigarette. However, she noted she couldn’t smell any smoke on him, which aroused suspicion.
Following Blevins’ arrest, officers interrogated Williams, who allegedly confessed at the police station that Troy had made “hurtful comments,” labelling him as “worthless and a gang-banger.”
Subsequently, he was also taken into custody.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson hinted during a press conference that their investigation is ongoing, as the facts do not appear to align, though he confirmed that the three were “friends, supposedly.”
“The motive that we’re getting doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case,” he stated, while disclosing that Williams “stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika Troy.”
Both teenagers are currently detained at the Santa Rosa Juvenile Detention Centre without bail.