The mother of a Florida teenager who was shot and set on fire in a remote patch of woods says she refuses to hate the boys accused of killing her daughter—even as investigators describe one of the most disturbing crimes their county has ever seen.
Fourteen-year-old Danika Troy was found dead Tuesday in Pace, a community north of Pensacola, after authorities say she was lured into the woods by two boys she once called friends: 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams. According to the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, the teens allegedly shot Danika multiple times and then set her remains on fire in an attempt to cover up the killing.
For Ashley Troy, Danika’s grieving mother, the brutality of the crime has not hardened her heart toward the accused. “She loved them, and they brutally murdered her,” she told the New York Post. “I don’t blame those boys. I blame evil influence. I don’t hate them, I hate what they did to my baby.” She added that she still wants them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Ashley also turned to Facebook just days after the murder, asking friends and community members to share any photos they may have of her daughter. “Please anyone with photos of my Danika… post them here. She never would let me take any of her as a teen,” she wrote.
Authorities say all three teens had been friends until a recent falling out, sparked by social media comments. Blevins told investigators he had blocked Danika over Thanksgiving break after an argument and claimed he had not spoken to her since. Williams reportedly told police that Danika had made “hurtful comments” calling him “worthless” and a “gang-banger,” remarks he said deeply upset him.
Sheriff Bob Johnson said both boys admitted involvement, and investigators believe Williams used a gun stolen from his mother to carry out the attack. “There’s not a clear motive,” Johnson said Thursday, “but I can tell you this: we’re going to be hopefully working with the State Attorney’s office to get these individuals charged as adults. You do an adult crime, you need to do adult time.”
Both Blevins and Williams have been arrested on first-degree premeditated murder charges and are being held by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice as prosecutors evaluate whether to move the case into adult court.
As Pace struggles to comprehend the brutality of what happened in its quiet woods, one mother’s grief cuts through the horror—refusing hate, demanding justice, and trying to collect the few photographs left of a daughter who never liked being in front of the camera.
