Deputies in Florida have arrested two boys — a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old — in connection with the shooting deaths of three teens last weekend.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said detectives are still looking for one other suspect, a 16-year-old boy, according to WFLA-TV.
“The suspects and victims were part of a gang and would allegedly commit robberies together,” the outlet reported.
“Basically, in simple terms, there’s no honor among thieves,” Woods said. “At some point, these three individuals turned on our three victims and murdered them.”
The victims — two girls and a boy — were not discovered together, or even on the same day.
One of them, 16-year-old Layla Silvernail, was found alive but with serious gunshot wounds on the side of a road on March 30. She was taken to a hospital but later died, CNN reported.
The next day, a 17-year-old boy was found dead on a roadside about half a mile from where Silvernail had been found, according to Finger Lakes Daily News. His name was not released.
On Saturday, the body of a 16-year-old girl identified as Camille Quarles was discovered inside the trunk of Silvernail’s car, which was found partially submerged in a body of water about 9 miles from where Silvernail had been found.
Quarles and the unnamed boy had both been shot, WFLA reported.
Woods described the motive as “robbery.”
It hasn’t yet been determined whether any of the suspects will be charged as adults. That decision will be made after a review by the state attorney’s office, according to WFLA.
Woods took a strong stance at a news conference, apparently in anticipation of new calls for more gun control laws in the wake of the shootings.
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“There are individuals out there viewing … who want to blame the one thing that has no ability or the capacity to commit the crime itself, and that’s the gun,” he said.
“These individuals committed the crime,” he added. “The fact is, society fails them. We do not hold our juveniles accountable. We minimize their actions.”
