Stranger fatally stabs 13-year-old and hides her in utility closet, Florida cops say

A 13-year-old girl was walking through her apartment complex to see her friend when a man attacked her and left her to die in a utility closet, Florida authorities said.

The accused killer was caught on surveillance footage, and he’s now been identified as 28-year-old Jerry Loreeson Dorisme, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced.

He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with the slaying of Rose Thalie Dieujuste, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said in a news conference July 12.

Dorisme’s attorney information was not available in Orange County court records July 12.

On the Fourth of July, as the teen left her Orlando apartment to see her friend in another building, Dorisme was captured on camera following her at a distance, Mina said.

Then Dieujuste disappeared.

Her friend found her shoes and phone in the stairwell and told her family, who began knocking on doors trying to find the missing girl.

That’s when they found her “barely alive” in the utility closet, stabbed and partly clothed, Mina said.

The teen couldn’t be revived by CPR and she was rushed to a hospital, where she died of her injuries, according to the sheriff.

Investigators reported finding packaging of a 12-inch knife at the scene, and surveillance from a nearby store showed Dorisme buying it.

Help from the public

On July 10, the sheriff’s office shared footage on social media showing a man, later identified as Dorisme, walking away from the apartment complex and asked for the public’s help identifying him.

Community members called in tips after seeing the video, leading to Dorisme’s arrest on a murder charge the next day, deputies said.

Mina said the man and the teen didn’t know each other, but he used to live nearby, and neighbors said they had seen him watching girls in the area.

A previous arrest

In 2020, Dorisme was found guilty of aggravated child abuse, Orange County records show. At the time, he was living in an apartment a mile away from where he’s accused of killing the teen.

He was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, and he was released Aug. 20, 2021, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.

Mina called Dieujuste’s death “a crime that is hard to predict and hard to prevent.”

He thanked the community for sharing information that led to Dorisme’s arrest.

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