Two young teen boys are behind bars after they allegedly lured a 14-year-old girl into a wooded area in Pace to fatally shoot her and burn her body.
Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told media during a Dec. 4 press conference that deputies arrested 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams for premeditated homicide after they allegedly shot Danika Troy multiple times in a wooded area off Kimberly Road Nov. 30 before dousing her in gasoline and lighting her on fire.
“This is where it gets really horrific,” Johnson said during the press conference. “The 16-year-old, Gabriel Williams, stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika Troy.”
Johnson said Troy’s mother reported her as a runaway teen Dec. 1, but a passerby on Dec. 2 saw the burned remains and reported it to law enforcement, and it was identified as Troy’s body.
In reports provided to the News Journal, a passerby escorted an SRSO deputy to the burned body where the deputy saw a black in color scooter with red trim, which matched the description of a scooter Troy’s mother reported missing alongside her daughter.
The deputy also said he had reason to believe the body was Troy’s because of the Nike Air Force 1 shoes found at the scene, the same shoes Troy was wearing when she left her home.
A cooperating witness, whom the report identifies as CW1, reported to the SRSO that Kimahri disclosed that “he and Gabriel Williams planned the murder of Danika.”
“The initial plan was to shoot Danika once, but Gabriel continued to shoot,” Kimahri allegedly told the witness in the report. “They then burned Danika’s body and left the area.”
When investigators spoke with Kimahri, he told them the last time he spoke with Troy was at the beginning of Thanksgiving break when they “had a falling out and he blocked her on social media,” not seeing or speaking to her again.
When asked about what happened in the wooded area, Kimahri immediately requested a lawyer and questioning ended.
Investigators then interviewed Williams, who said, “Danika has made hurtful comments to Gabriel about being worthless and a gang-banger, which upset him,” according to the report.
The following paragraph in the report contained statements from Williams that are redacted. Under Florida law, agencies redact a defendant’s confession prior to court disposition.
Johnson said he is working closely with the Office of the State Attorney to get both Williams and Blevins tried as adults, saying, “If you commit an adult crime, you deserve to serve adult time.”
Both Blevins and Williams are currently held in the Department of Juvenile Justice.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Teens charged with shooting 14-year-old and burning her body in Pace
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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