The man who was named “a person of interest” in mid-February by Clay County sheriff’s deputies, was today charged with the murder of Somer Thompson, a 7-year-old girl from Orange Park.
Jarred Mitchell Harrell, 24 years, was charged with murdering and sexually assaulting Thompson, cfnews 13 reports:
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler recalled at a press briefing today that,”The first day, if you’ll remember, I said we were going to    solve this crime.”
The sheriff and hundreds of volunteers who searched for Somer and called in tips are on track to doing just that.
The little girl disappeared last October while walking home from school with her brothers and sisters. Within days, her body was found in a Georgia land fill.
Acting on a tip, Clay County detectives searched the home where Harrell previously lived. Somer Thompson’s home in Orange Park, Florida, is close to where Harrell formerly lived.
Mitchell was arrested in Mississippi on February 11th and charged with 29 counts of child pornography and was named “a person of interest” in the abduction and murder of Thompson.
According to cfnews13, the sheriff would not say what Harrell told investigators which led to formal charges being brought today.
Sometimes the perp ends up dead.
In 1974, I was abducted, beaten and raped by a recidivist, pedophile predator with a history of sex crimes and prison time. Although he was arrested and indicted for what he did to me, he never went to trial. He never went to trial because he was brutally beaten to death in the streets of Providence, Rhode Island in 1975. 35 years later, no one has ever been charged with his murder.
The novel, Men in My Town is my story. A story inspired by actual events. Men in My Town by Keith Smith. http://www.MenInMyTown.wordpress.com.
May Somer’s family and those they love, find peace.