On Sunday a Florida judge officially denied bail to a registered sex offender accused of kidnapping a young girl from a local Wal-Mart over the weekend and then murdering her and dumping her body.
Donald James Smith, 56, of Jacksonville is facing kidnapping and murder charges in the death of 8-year-old Cherish Perrywinkle.
CBS News reports that Smith befriended Cherish and her mother inside of a dollar store in Jacksonville on Friday evening and went on to offer to buy the pair clothing and dinner at a nearby Wal-Mart. While shopping, Smith took Cherish with him as he walked toward a McDonald's inside the Wal-Mart, but instead of entering, he walked straight out the front door of the store with the girl.
When Cherish's mother realized her daughter was missing she called 911 to report the kidnapping and shortly thereafter an Amber Alert was issued.
Fox 4 News in Kansas City reports that Jacksonville police pulled Smith over on Saturday morning as he drove a white van southbound on I-95. He was reportedly detained without incident.
"Obviously, having Mr. Smith in custody is a huge break for us," said Shannon Hartley, spokesperson for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. "We are very confident that he is the one who took her from the Wal-Mart."
Just an hour after Smith's arrest, investigators followed a lead that took them to a local church, where they found Cherish's body, according to 11 Alive News. Police have not yet said how the girl was killed.
"This is a transition from an abduction investigation to a murder investigation," Hartley told reporters. "Obviously, we have the unfortunate answer that we didn't want to have."
According to various reports, Smith has been a registered sex offender since being convicted in 1993 in Duval County for attempted kidnapping and selling obscene materials. His criminal record shows several arrests since that time. According to documents from the Duval County Clerk of Courts, Smith's most recent conviction was in 2012 and stemmed from 2009 charges for unlawful impersonation of a public employee and aggravated child abuse by willful torture. He was sentenced to a year in county jail and was recently released on May 31.
Smith had just met with police on Friday morning as a requirement of a state law that mandates all sex offenders verify their address annually.
Smith is next scheduled to appear in court on July 16.
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