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Last week, Layla Silvernail and Camille Quarles were found dead alongside another unidentified 17-year-old male in rural Marion County. Authorities said that the teenage victims, who were friends, were reportedly shot and abandoned in different locations in the rural county sometime between March 30 and April 1.
Nearly a week after the deaths, in a press conference on Friday, April 7, Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods announced that two suspects have been arrested in the deaths of the teenagers. He added that a third suspect was still at large.
Woods said that the three victims and the arrested juvenile suspects, identified as 17-year-old Robert Robinson and 12-year-old Christopher Atkins, were all acquainted with each other. Authorities are now searching for Tahj Brewton, the third suspect who also knew the victims.
Providing insight into their connection, Woods revealed that the victims and the suspects were involved in a string of burglaries in the area before the three teens were killed.
Details of Layla Silvernail and Camille Quarles' death explored
Detailing the deaths of Layla Silvernail and Camille Quarles, authorities said that on March 30, 2023, the Marion County Sheriff’s office responded to a report of a wounded female in an area of Forest Lakes Park on SE 183rd Avenue Road. There they found 16-year-old softball standout Layla Silvernail with a gunshot wound, abandoned on the side of the road. Layla Silverman was reportedly taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The next day, a 17-year-old boy was found dead with a gunshot wound on the side of the road at SE 94th Street and SE 188th Court in the rural county.
A day later, on April 1, 2023, authorities reportedly found the third victim, 16-year-old Camille Quarles, in the trunk of the first victim’s car after deputies responded to a tip and found Silvernail’s vehicle partially submerged in the water. Authorities said that the vehicle was found nine miles from where Layla Silverman was shot dead, noting that Camille Quarles also sustained a gunshot wound.
Investigators deemed that before the killing, the three victims and the suspects, who were part of a burglary gang, were all inside Layla Silvernail’s vehicle. Sheriff Woods said that the victims were shot inside the car before they were dumped in different locations.
Woods added that shortly after reviewing the evidence left in the car by the assailants, police tracked down the suspects, who reportedly confessed to the murder. However, the third suspect managed to evade capture.
Layla Silvernail and Camille Quarles participated in crimes with assailants before they were shot dead
While authorities have yet to disclose a motive for the killing, Woods suspected that the victims and the assailants had participated in crimes together before the murder and most likely turned on each other.
“There’s no honor among thieves. At some point, these three individuals turned on our three victims and murdered them.”
Woods further urged the public to alert law enforcement with any tips as to Brewton’s whereabouts. Meanwhile, authorities are yet to disclose the name of the 17-year-old male victim in the incident.
