First Published:
10:17 AM PDT, July 21, 2022
A 17-year-old from South Carolina has been arrested and charged with kidnapping and murder in the slaying of his 4-year-old half-sister, according to authorities.
Authorities also believe the teenager kidnapped the victim from the home they shared before cops say he killed her, ABC 13 reported.
The victim, Joanna Lockaby, was reported missing to authorities Tuesday 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.”
Inside Edition 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.
Inside Edition Digital has reached out to the Greenville County Courts for more information but has not heard back.
