A Florida teenager is accused of killing a registered sex offender, dismembering the body, and keeping the victim's blood on microscope slides, according to police and court records described in recent reporting.
Police said 19-year-old Lucas Sander Jones of Indialantic allegedly focused on 28-year-old Colie Lee Daniel on Mar. 20 after printing a list of nearby sex offenders. Daniel, who was a registered sex offender, went to Jones' home that evening and never returned, according to the affidavit described in the reports.
Daniel's parents later used location tracking on his iPad and found it pointed to Jones' address, according to the reporting. When they went to the house, Jones allegedly confirmed Daniel was inside but refused to let them in, and police were called to the scene, according to People.
The girlfriend of Jones initially told police a different version of events, saying she saw Daniel lying on Jones' bed and later believed he had left through the back door. She later returned to detectives and said she wanted to give the "true timeline of events," according to the amended affidavit described in the reports.
In that second statement, the girlfriend said Jones admitted, "I killed somebody and cut him up," and told her he killed Daniel because he was a sex offender. She also told investigators she saw blood on the floor, blood in the tile grout, and blood stains on Jones' jeans, according to the reporting.
Police said Jones attacked Daniel with a baseball bat and then cut up the body with a cleaver, a saw, and a knife. Investigators said he placed the remains in suitcases and storage totes before moving them to different locations in the Palm Bay area, The Gateway Pundit reported.
Authorities also say Jones saved some of the victim's blood on microscope slides. According to the reporting, those slides were later recovered as evidence, along with other forensic material from the home.
Jones was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, abuse of a dead body, and tampering with evidence. Authorities have not publicly identified any prior relationship between Jones and Daniel, and they have not said the case involved any motive beyond the allegation that Jones targeted Daniel because of his status as a sex offender, as per Law and Crime.
Originally published on Lawyer Herald
