COLUMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — Action News has learned new disturbing details about the killing of a local teenage boy. Police say the 16-year-old was murdered by his younger sisters, one whom is 11.
Detectives say the older sister used her parents' gun to shoot the teen in his neck from 5 feet away. Investigators say the boy asked for help afterward but she refused.
Police reports are revealing other shocking crimes that happened inside that home before the killing took place.
The exact motive of the shooting is unknown at this time, according to Sheriff Mark Hunter. The reports outline extreme conditions inside that home, something even the mother of the children called inhumane.
"I've never seen anything like this," Hunter said.
Hunter said the investigation into Monday's shooting death of 16-year-old Damien Kornegay won't be easy. Multiple factors could have led his 15-year-old sister, Ariel, to pull the trigger.
"Why the child acted out, I can't say," Hunter said.
But police reports tell some of the story. First in 2010, Kevin Kornegay was arrested and convicted for sexual battery, after his wife found videos between him and one of the Kornegay girls.
Then seven months later, police say there was an incident between Ariel and her brother. In a heavily redacted report, mother Misty Kornegay reportedly found two people having sex in a bedroom. The Florida Department of Children and Families investigated this, but the case was closed because, they say, no criminal act occurred.
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"It's really, really hard for us to get our arms around this kind of activity," Hunter said.
Hunter said the exact motive for the shooting is unknown, but the reports also outline the conditions the 15-year-old was living in.
On Monday, when parents Keith and Misty Kornegay left their home, they old Damien to "keep Ariel locked in her room," where police say they later found only a blanket and bucket full of urine.
The parents later admitted she was often put there for as long as 20 days, punishment for talking back and stealing. Police also say they found letters from the parents asking Ariel why she should be let out of that room.
"There's gonna be 100,000 whys and we may not ever know why this child acted out like this," Hunter said. "This is really, really a sad case."
The reports also say after Ariel Kornegay broke into her parents' bedroom and got the gun she told her 11- and 3-year-old sisters to hide in a closet while she shot her brother.
Later she heard the girls crying. She then gathered up items, including money, and told the 11-year-old they needed to run away in different directions.
The two girls will be held in two separate juvenile detention centers. Prosecutors are still weighing if either will be charged as adults but say it's less likely for the 11-year-old because they say she didn't pull the trigger.
The girls' parents are also behind bars facing child neglect charges. The girls and the parents appeared before a judge Wednesday morning.