JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Santeria Williams was a beloved daughter, granddaughter and friend who would have soon taken her senior photos. Instead, her family had to lay the 18-year-old Ribault High student to rest after she was killed last month.
“We just want justice for Teri -- that’s all right now,” Williams’ grandmother, Deborah Caul, said.
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Police say the family is one step closer after Jeffery Edwards, 19, was arrested and charged in Williams’ case. News4JAX on Wednesday obtained the arrest report for Edwards, which revealed Williams was shot to death. Her body was found by the Trout River early last month.
Edwards was arrested Jan. 12 on charges of attempted murder and attempted armed robbery in an unrelated case, and he appeared for a pretrial hearing on those charges Thursday morning.
The murder charge for Williams’ death was added Monday. He’s slated to be arraigned on that charge on March 9.
The report states that surveillance video captured a Jeep, which was determined to be registered to Edwards’ grandfather, at about 5:48 a.m. on Jan. 5 near the scene where Williams’ body was later found.
RELATED: Arrest made in murder of Ribault High student: JSO
Investigators said the Jeep was located at a DHL service center on International Parkway. Notably, the arrest report states Edwards was employed at DHL.
Police, the report states, obtained a warrant for the Jeep, and blood samples were taken that later matched Williams’ blood. Furthermore, the report states, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement submitted a sexual assault kit, which tested positive for Edwards’ DNA.
The family told police that Williams had left the house in the middle of the night on previous occasions to see him and they believed the two were dating, the report states. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said Williams’ cellphone last pinged near Edwards’ house just before 2 a.m. on Jan. 5.
When questioned by police, the report states, Edwards claimed he hadn’t seen Williams since Dec 4.
“It’s hard for us getting over Teri’s death knowing she was killed,” Caul said. “It would have been a different [if] she was sick, but she was murdered. And that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
