A man was sentenced for kidnapping and torturing an 11-year-old boy in Florida.
During a recent hearing, defendant Darnell Hairston was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Florida. Darnell Hairston entered no contest pleas to Armed Kidnap Inflict Bodily Harm/Terrorize Victim, Aggravated Child Abuse, Battery by Strangulation, Robbery with a Deadly Weapon and Resisting an Officer Without Violence.
On December 31, 2025, Hairston was pulled over on U.S. 1 after a caller reported to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office that they had seen the defendant, who they knew to be a sex offender, traveling with two young boys.
The 11-year-old boy in the vehicle had been reported missing from St. Johns County and was immediately rescued by deputies and taken to the hospital. Hairston ran away from the scene but was quickly arrested.
Detectives learned that Hairston, with the help of the other boy in the vehicle, 15-year-old Junior Bishop, lured the 11-year-old boy to a campsite near Flagler Estates. Over the course of three days, Hairston and Bishop hog-tied, strangled, beat and threatened to kill the victim.
During the investigation, it was uncovered that the defendant kidnapped and tortured the victim to silence him because he had information about an unrelated sex offense in St. Johns County.
“The defendant was a previously convicted sex offender who abducted, held captive and tortured an 11-year-old child,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about the case. “The prosecutor argued that the defendant should be sentenced to life in prison. The Judge sentenced the defendant to 30 years. The punishment does not fit the crime.”
The case was investigated by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark successfully prosecuted the case on behalf of the State of Florida. The Honorable Dawn Nichols heard the case and pronounced sentence. The case against Bishop, Hairston’s co-defendant, was still pending.
