THE MURDER OF IZABELLA HEFFERNAN, 10 YS OLD -- FLORIDA

[HairOfTheDog]

RIP Isabella Heffernan.

Isabella ^ was last seen around 10 p.m. Saturday, and her family reported her missing around 11:30 a.m. the next day.

Sheriff’s deputies accompanied by a K-9 unit, a mounted posse and an air unit launched a massive search in the area surrounding the family's house.

The Bay County Sheriff's Office found Isabella's body in an open field behind her house around 4:20 p.m. Sunday.

[HairOfTheDog]

SUSPECT ARRESTED

Like 8-year-old Leila Fowler (stabbed to death) and 11-year-old Terry Dwayne Smith (beaten to death), police believe the killer is the victim's older brother. Police have not yet released Isabella's manner of death.


Isabella's brother, ^ 16-year-old Fredrick Lochridge, has been arrested and charged with murder.

The statement from Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen says that investigators soon developed Fredrick Matthew Lochridge as the suspect in the child's slaying.

The contents of Lochridge's Facebook page suggest that the 16-year-old has a fascination with the military, particularly the US Marine Corp, and knows his way around firearms.

His father's Facebook account contains a photo of Fredrick taken a week earlier showing him leaning against a tree with a shotgun in his hands during what appears to be a hunting trip.

No further details on the case are immediately available, but the sheriff’s office is expected to release more information later today.

Refs
http://www.wptv.com/news/state/florida-t...-heffernan
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...z40vSPm59O

[SIXFOOTERsez]

Damn.
rip Little one

[Duchess]

Woooo. I read his Dad is the one who told LE that he suspected his son had something to do with this.

[HairOfTheDog]

Woooo. I read his Dad is the one who told LE that he suspected his son had something to do with this.

I just saw the latest details; 'Woooo' is right. What a sad, strange and creepy case.

In the OP photo, little Izabella looks tough and hard for a 10-year-old, in my opinion. As details emerge about her family and her short life, it's easy to understand why.

Sounds like the little girl had a rough life. The Bay County Sheriff’s Office has dealt with the family in the past, Sheriff Frank McKeithen said at Monday’s press conference.

“About four or five years ago, one of our deputies discovered a family living there in a house,” he said. “There was about six kids, and a man and woman actually living there. The living conditions were absolutely horrible. It was freezing cold, not a lot of heat. We actually took a bunch of the deputies up and worked on the house and tried to get it to where they could have some heat and water and things of that nature.”

And her older brother sounds like one scary fucked-up teen.

[HairOfTheDog]

THE SUSPECT/BROTHER


Sheriff Frank McKeithen told reporters Fredrick Lochridge ^ wasn’t a typical teenage boy.

“I can tell you this, the 15-year-old boy was not your typical 15-year-old kid that you would see everyday on the street,” McKeithen said. “He was a hardcore kid. He lied. He was deceitful. He screamed. He cursed. He was like interviewing a 30-year-old murderer when we talked to him.”

McKeithen said the boy told deputies his sister was shot before they told him that. The sheriff also said that the boy’s father suspected him of having a role in her disappearance.

“Apparently the father had already confronted the 15-year-old earlier in the day and thought there was a possibility he had something to do with the missing girl,” McKeithen said. “He had actually handcuffed this boy and brought him back to his house. He failed to tell us that when we originally arrived, and we had no idea that had happened. We had no idea the 15-year-old was a suspect at that time.”


HOTD note: in earlier stories, the suspect was wrongly cited as being 16-years-old and Izabella's name was incorrectly spelled with an "s" (spelling in thread title has been corrected).

[HairOfTheDog]

THE CHANGING STORIES AND CONFESSIONS

Detectives said Fredrick Lochridge first admitted to shooting the girl with a .22 caliber rifle in the woods behind his house at about 3 a.m., mistaking her for a deer. He said he shot her in the chest and between the eyes, according to the affidavit. He said he first moved her body into a bus and then into the area where she was found, while hiding the rifle in an abandoned house.

Lochridge then changed his story, detectives said, telling them he saw someone attacking Izabella and he accidentally shot her while trying to shoot them.

He then gave a third story, investigators said, claiming he was teaching her how to shoot the rifle early Sunday morning and accidentally shot her in the chest.

“He thought it hit her in the lungs and stated ‘she started making gurgling noises, and I did not know exactly how to deal with that, so I shot her again.'”

Lochridge said he then moved her to the bus, “cleaned her body, and changed her clothes, changing her into a white dress.” He then moved her body to the woods.

The rifle was found in the abandoned house, investigators said. “We are not 100 percent sure we know exactly why this happened or exactly the chain of events which led to it, but we do know that the 15-year-old shot and murdered his sister,” Sheriff McKeithen said at a press conference.

McKeithen also said that police have not ruled out that Izabella was sexually assaulted before she was shot to death by her brother. They are waiting for medical examiner reports.

[HairOfTheDog]

THE SUSPECT/BROTHER'S MOTHER


Fredrick Lochridge’s mother is currently serving 30 years in prison in connection with the murder of her boss. Michele Lochridge (pictured above) was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder in the 2011 killing of her boss Ashley Pollow.

Lochridge had stolen money from her boss, and her boyfriend killed the boss to stop the boss from filing a criminal complaint; the boyfriend also said the couple wanted to take over the boss's business.

Michele Lochridge was present when drain cleaner was poured over the body to dispose of it.

I haven't seen any information related to Izabella's mother thus far.


Posts 5 - 8 source and link to Affidavit:
http://heavy.com/news/2016/02/fredrick-l...r-michele/

[HairOfTheDog]

THE CHARGES



Sheriff McKeithen ^ said the State Attorney's Office will file a second degree murder charge, the highest charge they can file at this time before the case sees a grand jury.

He said the State Attorney's Office hopes to seek a first degree indictment at the grand jury. McKeithen says they also hope to try Lochridge as an adult.

Based on what's been revealed in the case thus far, I don't have the usual mixed feelings about the minor brother being charged as an adult.