Sheriff’s office in Marion County announce arrests in a gruesome case of triple-homicide in the town of Ocklawaha, Florida

Suspect Christopher Atkins, 12, and Robert Robinson, 17, remain in custody, both face first-degree murder charges

Manhunt is ongoing for a third suspect, 16-year-old Tahj Brewton

Layla Silvernail, 16, was found shot and left inside a roadside dumpster last Thursday, while an unnamed 17-year-old male victim was found less than a mile away on the side of a road on Friday

16-year-old Camille Quarles, was found Saturday inside Silvernail’s car, which was partially submerged in a pond

All three victims were killed on Thursday March 6, motive for the killings was ‘robbery’, Marion County authorities said

Suspects, are juveniles and known gang members, were behind a recent spate of robberies and burglaries to hit the community – Sheriff

Robert Robinson, 17, [left], and Christopher Atkins, 12, [right], remain in custody on charges related to the killings of three teenagers in Florida. Both face first-degree murder charges

A 12-year-old boy and a 17-year-old have been arrested in the case of a Florida triple slaying, with a third juvenile suspect remaining at large.  
Robert Robinson, 17, and Christopher Atkins, 12, allegedly confessed to one of the shootings which have rocked the small town of Ocklawaha, and authorities have launched an urgent manhunt for a third suspect, 16-year-old Tahj Brewton.

Marion County Sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s help finding 16-year-old Tahj Brewton, [photo], the third suspect in murders of three teenagers in in the town of Ocklawaha, Florida last week

Layla Silvernail, 16, Camille Quarles, 16, and an unidentified 17-year-old victim last week were last week shot together in a car before being dumped over a span of three days within a 5-mile radius. 
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods told a press conference Friday that the motive for the killings was ‘robbery’, as he revealed that one of the perpetrators is still on the loose.
‘I will get him,’ Woods said, adding that the killers were juveniles and known gang members. 
The sheriff said the teenagers were behind a recent spate of robberies and burglaries to hit the small Florida community, before declaring: ‘There is no honor among thieves’. 

Layla Silvernail, 16, [photo], was found shot in the head and left in a dumpster, but still alive. She later died in hospital

Detectives were able to determine that the three teenage victims were together prior to their murders in a vehicle owned by Silvernail, before they were dumped in different locations over a three-day period.  
16-year-old Silvernail was still alive when she was discovered last Thursday night shot in the head and left in a dumpster near Forest Lakes Park. She later died in hospital. 
The grisly discovery was followed hours later when an unnamed 17-year-old victim was found less than a mile away on the side of a road. A third victim, 16-year-old Camille Quarles, was found Saturday inside Silvernail’s car, which was partially submerged in a pond. 

Camille Quarles, 16, was found Saturday inside the trunk Silvernail’s car, which was partially submerged in a pond. She had been shot. Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods Friday said investigations suggest that Quarles was there ‘of her own free will’

Detectives working on the case of the three teenagers who were found shot to death between Thursday and Saturday last week in separate locations, said knew each other and the case may have connections to what Sheriff Woods called a “wannabe gang.”
On Thursday, a 16-year-old girl, later identified as Layla Silvernail, was found laying on the side of a road near Forest Lakes Park in Ocklawaha, Florida. She had been shot and was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where she later died.
A day later, Marion County deputies responded to call found a 17-year-old boy with gunshot wounds laying on the side of the road. He was pronounced dead at the scene. His name was being withheld at the request of the family.
On Saturday, deputies responding to the call of a vehicle that was partially submerged at the edge of a lake, found a third person, 16-year-old Camille Quarles, inside the vehicle’s trunk. She had been shot and dead. Sheriff Woods said based on interviews and digital evidence from her phone, the victim was there “on her own free will.” The Sheriff’s office revealed that the tree teens were all shot on Thursday, March 30.

Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods [photo], announced arrests in the teen triple-homicide case on Friday morning. He said the motive behind the killings was robbery – perpetrated by a ‘wannabe gang’

The close proximity of the killings led to fears that a serial killer may be on the loose in Ocklawaha, Florida, however police were quick to rule out that theory.
An urgent investigation was launched following the grisly discoveries, with law enforcement describing the killings as an ‘isolated incident’.
After Silvernail and Quarles were identified as the victims, the identity of the third victim has not been released because their family have enacted their right of Marsy’s Law, which allows crime victims or their families to request their names be withheld from public documents. 
Detectives have been trying to piece together the triple murders that occurred last week over three days. They said the three teenagers, who were found shot to death between Thursday and Saturday last week in separate locations, knew each other.
The three killers in the case may have connections to what Woods called a “wannabe gang.”

Silvernail the first victim was found, still alive, inside this dumpster in Marion, County Florida. All tree victims were shot on Thursday, March 30

Layla Silvernail’s white Chevy Cruze was seen driving away after hitting a dumpster, but cops say the vehicle was been driven by one of the suspects after they had killed her. Initially the car had six occupants, the killers and the victims, before three wound up dead

One of the unidentified victims was later revealed to have been wearing all black clothing with a black mask covering his face when he was found dead. 
The 17-year-old boy was sprawled on the side of a dirt road where a a 17-year-old girl says she stumbled over the horror on her way to catch a school bus early Friday morning. 
‘I was walking with my brother and I found the guy… he was not breathing,’ the student, who would only give her name as Khatia,said.
‘He was laying on his side and was wearing a black hoodie, black shirt, black pants and black shoes. He had the hoodie over his head and he had a black mask up over his face. I couldn’t see his face. You could only see his eyes.’

Layla Silvernail was home schooled and a talented player in the local softball league

During a live interview on Thursday Sheriff Woods said Layla Silvernail’s car was seen on surveillance video prior to the incident and moments afterwards.
According to Woods, a witness who called in, heard gunshots and then saw the vehicle role and strike the dumpster where the first victim was found. That’s when all three victims were killed and the suspects fled in Silvernail’s car, Woods said.
Investigators said the vehicle, a white Chevrolet Cruze that belonged to Silvernail, carried six individuals at the time of the shooting – the three victims and three suspects.
Two of the suspects were identified as Robert Robinson, 17, and Christopher Atkins, 12, who both face first-degree murder charges. Robinson was arrested the morning after the murder, already in custody at a juvenile holding facility, and Atkins was arrested Thursday at his house via a search warrant, according to the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff said he was investigating multiple suspects in the case, adding that he believes the perpetrators knew the victims.
‘It’s multiple suspects. More than two,’ he said, maintaining that the suspects may be gang-related.
Woods called for calm in the tiny Florida town, during the investigation as he insisted that the idea there is a serial killer out there is ‘far from the truth.’
‘I know this is a very close community and many of you are very concerned,’ he said.
‘Someone out there knows something. We want you to have truthful information and not rumors.’

Silvernail’s family decided to donate her organs ‘so she can help others in the wake of this tragedy’

Tributes have poured in for Silvernail after she was named as the first victim in the case. 
The 16-year-old was described by her friends and family as a talented softball player. Her family decided to donate her organs ‘so she can help others in the wake of this tragedy,’ the teen’s softball league wrote on the fundraising page.
‘She is the definition of a team player and an amazing athlete,’ they said.
‘She loved the game of softball, was a great pitcher and could play any position her team needed. She uplifted all of her teammates!
‘She has been taken from us too soon and will be greatly missed.’