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Authorities in Florida have taken two teenage boys into custody, charging them with the murder of a fellow student.
Fourteen-year-old Danika Troy was discovered deceased in a forested area of Pace on December 2, following her disappearance the previous day. The Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office provided these details during a statement and press conference held on December 4.
According to law enforcement documents obtained, the two teenagers face charges of premeditated first-degree murder.
Investigators revealed that Danika suffered multiple gunshot wounds, and the suspects—aged 14 and 16—allegedly attempted to incinerate her body to eliminate evidence, as explained by Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson during Thursday’s briefing.
“We have conducted interviews with them, but their purported motive does not align with the forensic evidence or the facts of this case,” Sheriff Johnson stated at the press conference. He also noted that the suspects were reportedly “friends” with Danika at their school.
Danika’s mother, Ashley Troy, was the one who reported her daughter missing on Dec. 1., after noticing Danika and her black and red colored electric scooter were not at their home.
“But unbeknownst to the mother, unfortunately,” the Sheriff said, “Danika was murdered the previous night.”
Law enforcement noticed evidence of a fire upon arriving at the wooded area where someone had reported they had found a deceased body—later revealed to be Danika—per the initial accounts filed by the sheriff’s office.
Then, authorities found Troy’s remains, along with multiple ammunition rounds and an unidentified electric charger.
“The 16-year-old…stole his mother’s handgun and shot Danika Troy,” the Sheriff alleged. “It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16. They shot her multiple times then they set her on fire.”
Both boys are being held at the Department of Juvenile Justice.
The sheriff’s office revealed its intention to work with the state attorney’s office to charge both boys as adults.
“You do an adult crime,” he said, “you do adult time.”