Family speaks out after 13-year-old found murdered in Orange County
Rose Dieujuste's family devastated: 'Can't believe she's gone'
Family members of Rose Thalie Dieujuste, the Florida teen fatally stabbed while walking to meet a friend in Orange County, spoke to FOX 35. The teen was found dead in a closet. A 28-year-old man, Jerry Dorisme, is accused of killing her.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - The family of a 13-year-old girl is speaking out after the teen was murdered in Orange County.
The sheriff's office says Rose Thalie Dieujuste was found dead in a utility closet with "obvious signs of trauma." A stranger, 28-year-old Jerry Dorisme is accused of killing her.
"We saw the phone and the shoes on the stairs and there was blood on the stairs right before the first step," said Dieuriper Colin, a cousin of Rose.
Colin said he thought his cousin was at her friend's apartment, who also lives at the Palmetto Lakeside complex. That friend told him she found Rose's phone and shoes, but she Rose never made it to her home. Colin and Rose's brother started looking for her and found her in a utility closet stabbed and partially naked.
Detectives caught Dorisme on surveillance camera near the apartment complex and he was arrested a few days later. His arrest report shows that Dorisme was on video buying the kitchen knife used in the crime just minutes before the murder.
Residents in the complex told FOX 35 Dorisme was homeless and would hang out in the area.
Rose was a student at Memorial Middle School and was close to her family, especially her brother. The two moved to Orlando from Haiti for a better life about a year ago. Now, her family is mourning her loss.