PALM BAY, Fla. (TCN) — A teen has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly seeking out a sex offender to kill.
According to Law & Crime, a suitcase was spotted on March 28 surrounded by vultures. Some of the dismembered remains of 28-year-old Colie Daniel were found inside. He had been reported missing by his parents on March 22.
They had tracked his iPhone on March 20 using a device-finding feature on his iPad and went to the location. Lucas Jones, 19, confirmed Daniel was at the home, but he did not come to the door. Daniel’s parents refused to leave until they saw their son, so Lucas reportedly called the police. When police arrived, Jones allegedly did not let them inside.
Police returned to Jones’ house the next day and did not find any sign of Daniel, according to People.
People reports that after the police left on March 20, Jones and his girlfriend allegedly took two plastic totes and a suitcase to an area known as “the Compound,” where Daniel’s remains were found on March 28. In addition to the remains, a package addressed to Jones was inside a suitcase. That day, Jones was charged with evidence tampering, abuse of a dead body, and improper disposal of human remains. He was released from jail the next day after posting $7,500 bond.
People reports Jones’ girlfriend, whose name has not been released, told police that when she got home on March 20, Jones allegedly told her not to speak to the authorities. He allegedly confessed, “I killed somebody and cut them up” and saved some of the victim’s blood to put onto microscope slides.
He allegedly killed Daniel with a baseball bat and dismembered him with a meat cleaver. Jones’ girlfriend said she did not know if Jones and Daniel knew each other, but Jones had recently printed out a list of area sex offenders.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Daniel was convicted of lewd or lascivious battery with a victim 12 to 15 years of age in 2018.
When Jones’ girlfriend originally spoke to the police, she was afraid Jones could kill her, Click Orlando reports, so she told them she had seen Daniel at Jones’ house on March 20; she later recanted that statement on March 30.
On April 1, Jones was arrested a second time and charged with first-degree murder, according to People. He is being held without bond. Law & Crime reports that he is scheduled to be arraigned on April 21.
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