A 9-year-old Florida girl’s father has been arrested in connection with her “savage” murder.
According to WESH 2, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that Lo Juan Sessions, the father of Jamaria Sessions, was arrested in Orange County Friday. This arrest follows a warrant issued by Lake County related to the investigation into Jamaria’s death.
The Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the warrant charges Sessions with aggravated manslaughter of a child.
As previously reported on CrimeOnline, Lo Juan Sessions’s girlfriend, Tyshael Martin, 34, has been charged with first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, and child neglect in the June 17 death of Jamaria.
Lake County sheriff’s investigators said they discovered video from the home’s security system showing Martin holding a leash on the family’s 103-pound Rottweiler and instructing the dog to attack the girl two days before her death.
The footage also showed Martin repeatedly kicking, hitting, and shaking the child while saying, “I’m fixin’ to kill her.”
A 911 call placed before 5 a.m. on June 17 alerted medics and deputies to the scene, where they found the child unresponsive and cold to the touch. Sessions was discovered naked with “numerous abrasions, bruises, burns, and possible bite marks” across her body, according to WESH.
She was pronounced dead at the scene. The medical examiner indicated that the injuries were consistent with physical abuse and ruled the death a homicide caused by multiple blunt injuries and burns.
“I don’t think I have ever seen anything so graphic, and like I said, savage is an appropriate word to describe this,” Lt. John Herrell owith LCSO told WESH.
Martin made her first court appearance on Thursday and was ordered held without bond.
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[Feature Photo: Jamaria Sessions/handout and Tyshael Martin/Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
