The morning of December 1, 2025, began with a mother’s worst fear. At around 7 a.m. in Pace, Florida, a mother reported her 14-year-old daughter, Danika Troy, as missing. She believed her child had run away—a worry already heavy enough to make any parent feel powerless. What she could not have known was that her daughter had never made it past the night before. Even as she filled out the runaway report, Danika was already gone.
Sheriff Bob Johnson of Santa Rosa County delivered the heartbreaking truth a day later:
“Unfortunately, for her mother, Danika was murdered the previous night.”
The story that emerged over the next 48 hours would horrify the entire community. A child had been killed—not by a stranger, not by an adult predator, but allegedly by two other children. Children who went to school with her. Children her age. Children who, according to investigators, lured her into the woods, shot her multiple times, and then set her body on fire.
This was a crime so brutal, so senseless, and so disturbing that even seasoned investigators struggled to put words to it.
The Discovery
On December 2, a passerby walking near Kimberly Road noticed something alarming in the woods—smoke, an odor, and an unrecognizable form. What he found would spark one of the most shocking homicide investigations in the county’s recent history. It was the body of a teenage girl, charred, mutilated, and still in the aftermath of a fire set intentionally.
The passerby called the sheriff’s office immediately.
Within minutes, deputies and forensic units arrived. The scene was gruesome—burn marks on the surrounding leaves, spent shell casings, footprints in the dirt, and the unmistakable smell of gasoline. The victim was identified as the missing girl,14-year-old Danika Troy.
Sheriff Johnson, in recalling the crime scene, said simply:
“It’s bad enough you kill a 14-year-old. You’re 14. You’re 16. Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
The Suspects
Investigators moved fast. Evidence at the scene began pointing in one direction—toward two teenagers:
- 16-year-old Gabriel Williams
- 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins
The sheriff called it “a ground ball,” meaning the case practically lined itself up. The clues were unmistakable. Their names came up quickly—from witnesses, digital evidence, and the victim’s circle of acquaintances. The three teens all knew each other from school.
Williams had allegedly stolen his mother’s handgun. Investigators believe he brought the weapon with him that night, planning something far more sinister than any typical argument or teenage conflict. According to Sheriff Johnson, the teenslured Danika into the woods, led her away from safety, and then carried out the killing.
Danika was shot multiple times.
Then, as if the violence were not enough, the teens reportedly
set her body on fire, trying to destroy evidence.
The sheriff’s voice hardened when he repeated it:
“Shoot her multiple times, and then they set her on fire.”
Both suspects were arrested immediately.
They showed no signs of remorse.
A Community in Shock
The news spread across Pace and the broader Santa Rosa County area within hours. Neighbors gathered in living rooms, teachers whispered in hallways, parents clutched their children closer.
Children killing another child.
That was the part that broke people.
The brutality alone was enough to shake the community, but the ages involved made the horror incomprehensible. These were children—students who sat in classes, walked through hallways, and used the same playgrounds as Danika. The idea that such savage violence could come from teenagers barely old enough to drive terrified parents everywhere.
Many asked the same question:
How could something like this happen?
The sheriff admitted that the motive remained unclear.
“They have been interviewed, but the motive they’re giving doesn’t fit the forensics or any facts of the case,” he said.
“So we don’t have a legit motive.”
Had there been a fight? Jealousy? Peer pressure? Something darker?
Nothing made sense. Nothing fit the brutality of the act.
The community wanted answers. The investigators wanted answers.
But for now, all anyone knew was that a child was dead—and two others had thrown away their own lives in the process.
Danika’s Final Hours
The timeline pieced together by investigators was chilling.
On the night of November 30, Danika left home—whether willingly or lured is still debated. She met with Gabriel Williams and Kimahri Blevins, likely believing she was hanging out with friends or classmates. She had no idea she was walking into a trap.
They took her into the woods along Kimberly Road, a quiet, dimly lit area. The kind of place where a car passing by might not notice anything amiss. Investigators believe the teens planned the attack—bringing the stolen handgun, leading her to a secluded location, and carrying materials used to set the fire afterward.
What happened in her final moments is known only through forensics:
- Multiple gunshot wounds
- Evidence of close-range firing
- Postmortem burns
The fire was an attempt to cover the crime, not a random act.
For Danika’s mother, the details are unbearable.
She thought her daughter had run away.
But while she was reporting her missing child, Danika’s body lay in the woods—alone, burned, discarded.
No parent should ever face that truth.
The Investigation
Sheriff Johnson spoke candidly during the press conference:
“This is what major crimes calls a ground ball. The evidence pointed to them immediately.”
Digital footprints, witness accounts, phone records, and physical evidence at the scene all connected the suspects to the murder. There was no struggle to identify who did it—only confusion as to why.
The sheriff emphasized the senselessness again and again.
No motive made sense.
No explanation fit the brutality.
Investigators described the suspects as calm during questioning, but no detail they gave aligned with forensic analysis. Their stories contradicted each other. Their claims contradicted the physical evidence. Their timeline made no sense.
Whatever explanation they offered, investigators dismissed it as “not legit.”
The sheriff made his next priority clear:
“The next step is to get the teenage suspects charged as adults. You do an adult crime. You need to do adult time.”
Legal Ramifications
The suspects are currently held at the Department of Juvenile Justice, but the sheriff and prosecutors intend to push for adult charges. The crimes—premeditated murder, arson, destruction of evidence—are too severe for juvenile court.
Charging a 14-year-old and a 16-year-old as adults is extreme, but so was the crime they committed.
Premeditated first-degree murder carries one of the harshest penalties in Florida.
The community largely supports the sheriff’s stance. Parents in the area say that any teenager capable of this level of violence is capable of being held fully accountable.
But members of the legal community acknowledge the weight of this decision:
Trying children as adults is controversial, especially at such young ages.
Still, the sheriff was unwavering:
“You do an adult crime. You need to do adult time.”
Danika’s Life — Not Just Her Death
In the midst of investigating a crime, sometimes the victim becomes just “the victim”—a name in a headline, a statistic, a face in a photo. But for Danika’s family, she was so much more.
Danika was 14.
She was still a child—still figuring out who she wanted to be, still discovering her strengths, still learning her place in the world.
Her mother describes her as vibrant, funny, emotional in the way teenagers often are. She loved music. She loved drawing. She loved sitting on the couch with her mom watching movies. She still curled up under blankets like a little girl.
She should have gone to school the next morning.
She should have come home after class.
She should have grown up.
Instead, her life ended in fear, violence, and betrayal by two people she knew.
Her mother will never hear her daughter’s footsteps again.
Never wake her for school.
Never tell her goodnight.
That is the weight of this crime.
A Community Searching for Answers
Parents across Pace are asking the same questions:
What drove these two teenagers to murder?
How could 14- and 16-year-olds plan something so violent?
Could this have been prevented?
Teachers and school counselors are grappling with the knowledge that these teens, accused of murder, sat in classrooms just weeks ago—quiet, unassuming, blending into the patterns of school life.
Were there warning signs?
Did anyone notice anything unsettling?
Could the system have caught it sooner?
No clear answers have emerged.
What is clear is that Pace, Florida is forever changed. The innocence of childhood feels more fragile. The safety of friendships feels less certain. The idea that teenagers could lure, kill, and burn a classmate is something no one ever expected to confront.
Final Reflection
The murder of 14-year-old Danika Troy is a tragedy layered with confusion, anger, grief, and disbelief. A young life was ended by two peers, in an act so violent and deliberate that it shook even the most experienced law enforcement officers.
There is grief for Danika.
There is disbelief that children committed this crime.
There is fear that something in society allowed this to happen.
There is anger that her mother’s last hope—the runaway report—was already too late.
And there is a community demanding accountability, justice, and answers that may never fully come.
Danika’s story is a haunting reminder of how quickly innocence can be stolen, how deeply violence scars a community, and how crucial it is to protect children—not only from strangers but sometimes from those who stand beside them.
The sheriff’s final words echoed across the state:
“You do an adult crime. You need to do adult time.”
But for Danika’s family, no sentence will ever restore what was taken.
Her life is the one that should have continued.
Her future is the one that mattered.
Her smile is the one that should still be here.
No motive, no explanation, and no courtroom decision can ever change that.