The third and final teenage suspect in the August murder of a child is now in custody.
Matthew Rice, a 17-year-old from Lake City, was taken into custody without incident Thursday, the Lake City Police Department announced Friday morning.
Rice has been charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder in the Aug. 24 shooting death of 12-year-old Mariah Smith.
“With this third arrest, all the individuals involved in this heinous crime have been identified and charged,” Lake City Police Chief Gerald Butler said in the release. “I would like to thank the community for their assistance, the State Attorney’s Office and the tireless work of our detectives in working this investigation.
“We understand the impact violent crimes have on our community, and we remain dedicated to ensuring that those responsible are held accountable.”
Jatarious Fluellen II, 15, was arrested less than a week after the shooting, while 16-year-old Jayden Burch was arrested in October in Miami for his role in the murder. Fluellen was charged with one count of murder and two counts of attempted murder, while Burch was charged with one count of both murder and attempted murder. Burch lived in Lake City prior to the shooting but moved in the seven weeks leading up to his Oct. 11 arrest.
Greg Burnsed, an LCPD spokesperson, said Friday that Rice was a person of interest in the shooting during the early stages of the investigation. It just took detectives time to gather the evidence and get that evidence back from labs to tie Rice to the shooting.
“Just waiting on evidence to come back, DNA comparisons,” he said. “It was just building the case, getting all the physical evidence we needed to ensure us beyond a reasonable doubt case.”
Around 9 p.m. Aug. 24, LCPD officers responded to a NW Long Street home due to a person being shot. When they arrived, the officers found Smith suffering from a gunshot wound. First aid was rendered to the child, who was said to have been sitting on a couch in the residence watching television when the house was struck by a hail of bullets.
First aid was rendered to Smith by officers as well as by EMS but she did.
Burnsed said Friday that detectives continue to investigate what led to the fatal shooting, as well as which one of the teen suspects fired the fatal bullet.
“They’re not going to release that yet,” Burnsed said. “I think there’s still some investigating that has to be done, some loose ends to tie up so they don’t want everything out of the bag yet.”