Authorities identified the body of a missing Black Louisiana teen, who was discovered floating in the Ouachita River. The family of the slain 19-year-old, Sheryl Mae Turner, called her a “shining light to all who knew her.”
The New Iberia, La. teen was last seen by her family in December before, authorities allege, she traveled to the home of Anthony Pierce Holland Jr., 29, in West Monroe. According to the West Monroe Police Department, Turner told her family that she was leaving to stay with a person she’d met online in West Monroe.
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Police identified Holland as the man she was visiting; his home was Turner’s last known location. In January, police said they received a call about Turner’s dismembered body floating in the river.
On Tuesday, officers conducted a search warrant on Holland’s home, where they said they found “forensic evidence of a crime of violence.” Authorities took Holland into custody and charged him with one count of second-degree murder.
According to police, Holland confessed to the crime, stating that he dismembered her body in his home.
In an obituary, Turner’s family bemoans her loss. “Sheryl Mae Turner, born on April 12, 2004, in New Iberia, LA, left this world too soon on January 19, 2024, in Jonesville, LA,” writes the family. “She was a shining light to all who knew her, with a kind and loving personality that radiated through her beautiful smile and touched the hearts of those around her.”
“To those who had the privilege of knowing Sheryl Mae Turner, she will always be remembered for the love she shared, the kindness she showed, and the light she brought into the lives of others,” they write. “May her sweet soul rest in eternal peace.”
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