A 19-year-old man was arrested in the killing of his 16-year-old girlfriend, whose body was found off the side of a Florida road hours after her family reported her missing, a sheriff said.
Robert Anthony Timmons faces a first-degree premeditated murder charge in Victoria Perez’s death, Pasco County court records show.
An investigation revealed Timmons allegedly shot Perez in the head during an argument inside of a car after he picked her up from an apartment where she lived with her family in Spring Hill around 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, November 8, according to Pasco Sheriff Jeff Harrington.
“After he murdered this 16-year-old girl, he took her around the back of where this apartment complex was, and he callously dumped the body 15 feet off the road, and then he left,” Harrington said at a Monday, November 9, news conference.
The murder weapon has yet to be found, though Timmons said he threw it in a nearby body of water.
Perez’s family members alerted law enforcement that the teen was missing from home the morning of November 8, according to the sheriff.
A few hours later, deputies were called to a body on the side of the road near the family’s apartment and identified the person as Perez, Harrington said.
Timmons was “quickly identified” as a suspect, according to Harrington, who said Perez’s family members confirmed he was her boyfriend.
“There were concerns about the nature of the relationship that he and this young woman had,“ Harrington said, adding that family members described it as “tumultuous” and “toxic.”
Surveillance footage reviewed during the investigation captured Perez entering a car driven by Timmons outside of her family’s apartment early Monday morning, according to authorities.
Timmons lied to investigators at first, but later acknowledged he knew where Perez was, Harrington said.
He allegedly admitted to picking her up from her apartment complex before an argument ensued in the car and “turned ugly,” Harrington said.
Timmons told investigators he shot Perez in the left side of her head, killing her with a gun that had been in his lap, according to the sheriff.
He then allegedly drove to a nearby area and discarded her body along the road before tossing the gun in a body of water, the Pasco Sheriff’s Office said in an update shared to Facebook.
The investigation into Perez’s death continues, the agency said.
Harrington said during the news conference that Perez’s parents had been “engaged” and trying to help her ahead of her death.
“They were taking steps to try to insulate her from that type of relationship that she was in,” the sheriff said.
Information on Timmons’ legal representation wasn’t listed in court records the afternoon of Tuesday, November 10.
Timmons is due in court for a hearing set for November 13.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
