A 14-year-old boy from Indiana is accused of murdering a 6-year-old girl who was found dead in the woods.
Grace Ross was reported missing by her family in New Carlisle, Ind. on March 12.
Her body was discovered two hours later in a wooded area nearby. She had been strangled to death.
That same day, investigators took a 14-year-old boy into custody after his mother brought him to police, according to newly-released court documents.
While the boy’s attorneys requested details of the case to remain sealed, on Wednesday, a judge ruled that some of the court proceedings and details would become public.
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The boy informed investigators, allegedly, from the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit that Grace has followed him into the wooded area before he lost track of her. He then allegedly claimed a “shadowy man was controlling him” and made him strangle Grace with his hands, WNDU reports.
According to police, the boy allegedly said when he felt Grace’s soul or spirit leave her body he knew she was dead.
He then went on to allegedly confess fleeing the woods and going back home, where he took a shower, hid his dirty clothes and changed into clean clothes, police said.
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“It’s unbelievable what the parents must be going through. Both — parents of both the victim and the and the person who did the horrible deed,” neighbor Wendell Chitwood told ABC57.
The boy faces two counts of murder and one count of child molestation.
It is not clear if the victim and suspect had previously known each other.
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