Family calls for justice after arrest made in murder of Columbia County teen

COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — The family of a woman killed just months before her 19th birthday is calling for justice now that a man has been arrested for her murder. Deputies with the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office say the victim knew her accused killer.

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Action News Jax spoke with Coyoete Turner’s mother, who said it has been an extremely difficult two months without Turner. While they’ve made an arrest, she believes there’s more to the story.

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Turner was going to be 19 years old this Friday, but her life was tragically cut short in September.

“There not a moment that goes by that I don’t…I wake up screaming for her, knowing what was done to her,” her mother, Eleanor Houston said.

Related Story: Sex offender charged in homicide of woman, 18, after her burned body was found in September

The 18-year-old was found dead on the edge of a field in Columbia County. Deputies said her body was partially burned and she wasn’t identified for roughly two days. Her mother, Eleanor Houston, called the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office after she didn’t hear from her for over 24 hours.

“No mother should have to hear their child was partially burned and tortured and all that other stuff,” she said.

Related Story: Columbia County detectives release information in the homicide investigation of Coyoete Turner

Now two months later, investigators arrested John Bowen, a registered sex offender, for murder and tampering with evidence. He was already in jail on unrelated charges.

Police reports and Houston say Bowed had dated Houston’s sister on and off for about 10 years.

“How can I trust people when it’s our friends and families that done this to our family?,” she said.

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His arrest report says deputies spotted him on security footage at a nearby store around 1:45 a.m., saying he changed clothes in a car before going inside. When investigators questioned him about Turner’s death, the report says he made several statements and changed his story. The report says he confirmed to deputies he was there when she was killed, he was there when she was hit by a car, when her body was burned, and that he performed sex acts on her while she was unconscious.

Bowen also told investigators other people were involved and that someone else got in his car and ran her over. That information is still being investigated according to the sheriff’s office.

For Houston, she believes there are more suspects out there and wants the community to come together to help.

“Full justice is they all get caught, they all pay and they pay to the fullest extent,” she said.

Houston also told Action News Jax that she’s been attacked and accused by people online, who say they think she had something to do with it. She told Action News Jax she didn’t, would never, and that it’s crushed her to hear it.

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Deputies are still looking into the suspect’s claims of other involvement. They’re asking anyone with additional information to give them a call.

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