Indicted: Three defendants, one of them 12, charged as adults in deaths of three teens
Three defendants were indicted by a grand jury Monday afternoon, charged with the brazen shooting deaths of three teenagers a little more than a month ago in Ocklawaha.
The defendants − ages 12, 16 and 17 − are charged with first-degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, and evidence tampering. They have been charged as adults.
Assistant State Attorneys Toby Hunt and Rich Buxman are prosecuting the cases. They advised the grand jury on Monday as it considered the matter.
Earlier coverage: The latest on the Ocklawaha homicides
Earlier coverage: Three charged with murder in SE Marion teen slayings
Prosecutors said the grand jury met for more than five hours. Details of grand jury proceedings are confidential. Circuit Judge Peter Brigham presided over the proceeding and signed the indictments.
Chief Assistant State Attorney Walter Forgie said: "The three victims of this crime were mercilessly executed at close range and left to die by the defendants in this case. Motivated by greed, along with a complete disregard for the value of human life, the defendants in this case are responsible for the deaths of three human beings.
"These murders represent the most serious crimes in our judicial system and society and warrant that the defendants be charged as adults and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law," he continued. "Our office is focused on bringing justice to the victims, and the families of the victims, of these terrible crimes."
At the time of their arrests, the 12- and 17-year-old defendants were attending alternative schools. The 16-year-old defendant was not enrolled in school. The Star-Banner is not publishing their names because of their ages.
The deaths of three teenagers in Ocklawaha
Shortly before 11 p.m. on March 30, deputies went to the area of Forest Lakes Park on Southeast 183rd Avenue Road. They were told someone was on the side of the road suffering from a gunshot wound. The injured person, later identified as 16-year-old Layla Silvernail, was taken to a hospital. She died a week later.
On March 31 at approximately 7:55 a.m. deputies went to Southeast 94th Street and Southeast 188th Court, where a 17-year-old boy was found deceased on the side of the road. He also had been shot. His name was not released by detectives because his family has invoked Marsy's Law, which forbids the official release of victim information.
On April 1, the body of a third teen, another 16-year-old girl, was found in the trunk of a car that belonged to Layla. She had been shot. Her family also has invoked Marsy's Law.
According to the sheriff's office, the 17-year-old defendant said he was in Layla's car along with the other two boys. At least two of the victims also were in the vehicle.
He said they drove around Ocala and decided to burglarize vehicles. He said some of them, including the 12-year-old and the 16-year-old, were armed.
According to the sheriff's office, the 17-year-old admitted shooting one of the female victims. He said he did so because he feared she would testify against him and the other two defendants and they all would go to jail for life.
The 12-year-old boy told the sheriff's office they picked up an unknown male wearing a ski mask and black hoodie at an Ocala apartment complex. He said the hooded individual never removed the face covering.
The boy said the unknown male shot one of the victims. The 12-year-old said he was forced to shoot one of the victims because, if he didn't, then his family would be killed.
After the shooting, the 12-year-old said, the masked male drove the vehicle near a lake. One victim was thrown in a ditch. The boy said they drove to a pond. That's where the car was found on April 1.
Detectives said the car was found not far from the home of the 17-year-old victim. They said it appears the car was pushed into the body of water, with the front tires partially submerged.
Arrests made
The 17-year-old defendant was picked up on March 31. Reports show Ocala police had probable cause to arrest him on unrelated charges of affray and disrupting a school function. That episode happened days before the shootings.
He was still at a juvenile facility, being held on those charges, when he was charged with murder.
The 12-year-old was found at his Ocklawaha residence on April 6. He is being held without bail.
A day later, the 16-year-old boy was captured in Lake County.
Three hours before the victims were killed, the 12- and 17-year-old robbed and shot at another victim, according to the sheriff's office. They have been charged in that case, as well.
At the time of the killings, the 16-year-old defendant was on probation and supervised release/intensive home detention with an electronic monitor for two separate 2022 cases, according to court documents. In one case, deputies said, the teen pointed a gun at another juvenile who was sitting in a car waiting on his mother to get pizza. The then stole the vehicle.
According to a court filing, the 16-year-old disappeared in March 2023, and the electronic monitor was found 50 yards from his residence.
First appearance hearings
The three defendants in the murder cases made their first court appearances in front of County Judge LeAnn Mackey-Barnes on Tuesday. They were at the county jail and the hearing was conducted by video link, with the judge at the courthouse.
The judge denied bail for all three and told them to stay away from each other. Their next court dates will be in June. Although they're going to be housed at the county jail, the minors will be separated from the general population.
A man and woman were in the company of a victim witness advocate from the State Attorney's Office during the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the man and woman left with the SAO official. They declined comment.
Local lawyer Jack Maro will represent the 17-year-old. He told a Star-Banner reporter that he needs to read the indictment and meet with the family.
Another local attorney, David Mengers, is representing the 12-year-old. Mengers declined comment.
In the case of the 16-year-old, Tampa lawyer Charles A. Greene was appointed as his attorney on unrelated charges of carjacking while armed, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Greene said he might be appointed to handle the murder case, as well, but he will have to wait and see.
Juveniles charged as adults
Marion is one of five counties within the 5th Judicial Circuit, whose elected state attorney is Bill Gladson. The other counties are Lake, Citrus, Hernando and Sumter.
It's not unusual for prosecutors to charge juveniles as adults. Some such defendants have been as young as 13. Under state law, a grand jury indictment is required to charge anyone younger than 15 as an adult.
In 2014, a 13-year-old girl was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and attempted first-degree murder. Sheriff's deputies arrested the girl and her 15-year-old boyfriend, who was accused of slitting the throat of the girl's mother. The woman survived. Deputies said the girl lured her mother into the garage, where the attack happened.
The boyfriend was sentenced to prison in 2017, and state records show he is scheduled to be released in 2024. Bond was posted for the girl, who skipped her hearing and so far hasn't been caught.
Three years ago, a 13-year-old was indicted in Lake County on charges of kidnapping, child pornography, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a minor.
The teen was arrested in January 2020 when he and another boy, who was 15, allegedly forced a male victim at gunpoint to walk to a location. On the way, the duo reportedly threatened to shoot the victim.
At the location, the teens ordered the male to remove his clothes and threatened to shoot him if he tried to run. The incident was recorded, and the recording went viral, according to an arrest report. The 15-year-old also was charged.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Indictments handed up in teen slayings; defendants charged as adults
