New charges filed against two defendants in the Ocklawaha triple murder case

Two of the three juveniles charged with the shooting deaths of three teenagers in Ocklawaha now face multiple burglary and theft charges, as well, following an investigation by Marion County Sheriff's Office property crimes detectives.

The detectives said the boys, ages 17 and 13, are connected to a string of break-ins between March 10 and 14 in Ocklawaha.

Detectives said they connected the minors to the thefts by using cellphone data and footage from video surveillance cameras. In one instance, the detectives said, the defendants videoed themselves with goods taken during the burglaries. And the older boy reportedly linked a stolen debit card to the Cash App account on his phone.

According to the arrest reports, the items mostly were taken from vehicles — most of which had been left unlocked. The stolen items included guns, knives, cash, a concealed carry permit, and credit and debit cards. In one case, a John Deere ATV was stolen.

Amon the new criminal charges lodged are armed burglary of a conveyance, grand theft of a firearm and petit theft.

These same two defendants also are charged in an incident that occurred just before the triple murder. In that case, they are accused of hitting a man in the face with a firearm and firing a shot at him.

The two boys, along with a third juvenile, now 17, were indicted by a grand jury in May in connection with the shooting deaths of two 16-year-old girls and a 17-year-old boy. All are charged as adults with first-degree murder with a firearm, robbery with a firearm, and evidence tampering. The teens remain held without bail at the county jail.

At the time of the shooting deaths, the 13-year-old boy was 12 and the third boy was 16. When the third boy was apprehended, he was on probation for other serious offenses. Authorities said the teen had removed his electronic monitoring device.

Indictment: Indicted: Three defendants, one of them 12, charged as adults in deaths of three teens

The victims were shot, and two of the bodies were left in the roadway. The third victim was found in the trunk of a car owned by one of the victims.

The victims were discovered from March 30 through April 1 in Ocklawaha. Only one victim has been identified by sheriff's detectives. Her name is Layla Silvernail. The identity of the others have not been released because their families invoked Marsy's Law, which forbids the official release of victim information.

Contact Austin L. Miller at [email protected] or @almillerosb

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Burglary charges filed against two defendants in Ocklawaha murder case