Authorities have announced that a South Carolina teenager has been arrested for kidnapping as well as murder in the murder of his 4-year old half-sister.
ABC 13 reported that authorities believe the teenager also kidnapped and killed the victim in the house they shared.
Joanna Lockaby, the victim, was reported missing to authorities Tuesday afternoon around 2:30. Fox News reported. The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office sent deputies to the area where they discovered her body and say the child was suffocated to death.
“Were able to locate a plastic bin in a wooded area,” Rylan Flood, Public Information Officer for the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office told ABC 13. “Tragically and unfortunately, we located the body of the sweet 4-year-old little girl inside.”
The teen, William Micah Hester, who lived with the victim, was arrested Wednesday, according to Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
On the Facebook post, the Sheriff’s Office said Hester “suffocated the victim, contributing to her death.”
Digital has reached out to the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office for comment and has not heard back.
“It’s just absolutely tragic,” Flood told ABC 13. “Our thoughts and prayers really go out to the family of little Joanna and them having to cope with and try to have some reasoning in their head and figure out what led up to this. How does this happen? Unfortunately, there’s no answer for this.”
Hester appeared at a bond hearing Wednesday where a judge denied him bond, according to reports. He is currently in Greenville County Detention Center.
Digital has reached out to the Greenville County Courts for more information but has not heard back.