Police have arrested a 14-year-old boy accused of killing his 10-year-old stepsister Na’Mylah Turner-Moore Peterson after her body was found in an abandoned lot in a Michigan neighbourhood, NBC 25 News reports.
According to the report, court records indicate 14-year-old Jameion Peterson faces one charge of open murder in connection with the death of Na’Mylah Turner-Moore Peterson is being charged as an adult.
A motive for the killing and Na’Mylah’s cause of death have not been made public.
According to MLive.com, Na’Mylah Turner-Moore Peterson was reported missing from her stepfather’s Saginaw, Mich., house, early Tuesday morning.
Hours later, authorities found her body in an abandoned lot on the same block, the outlet reports.
Saginaw County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Blair N. Stevenson said while he could not elaborate on how Na’Mylah Turner-Moore Peterson was killed, “it appears no dangerous weapon was involved,” reports MLive.
There were also no signs of sexual assault, according to reports.
Speaking out on the death of her daughter and the arrest of her stepson, Melonzine Turner said she treated Peterson like “he was my own.”
“I put clothes on his back. He was like another child of mine,” she said, per the website. “I would have never thought he would have done nothing like this. But then again, you can’t put nothing past nobody, and you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
Of Na’Mylah, the grieving mother said her eldest daughter “was everything.”
“She was jolly, smiley faced. She had personality,” Turner said. “She had so many friends. Everybody wanted to be around her. She just was lovable.”
It was unclear if the teen has entered a plea to the charge.
Peterson, who was denied bond, is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 21, records show.
Family members have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help offset Na’Mylah’s funeral expenses.