ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Authorities have charged a 24-year old man from Lucedale, Miss., with the murder of a 7-year old girl from Florida who was missing for two days. Jarred Mitchell Harrell was charged with the murder of Somer Thompson, who disappeared on Oct. 19 while walking home from school.
Somer’s case drew nationwide attention as prayer vigils were held, and thousands of people joined in the search for her. Police discovered Somer’s body two days later, after sifting through 225 tons of garbage in a landfill 50 miles from her home.
Harrell, an unemployed restaurant worker, became a person of interest in Somer’s murder after he was arrested on Feb. 11, in Meridian, Miss., and charged with 29 counts of possession of child pornography.
Officials from Clay County, Florida said at the time of Somer’s disappearance, Harrell lived in his mother and stepfather’s house in Florida, which is near Somer’s residence and her route home from school.
Reports said that Harrell initially caught the attention of law enforcement agents in August 2009, two months before Somer disappeared. Harrell’s roommates said they kicked him out of their Orange Park apartment for stealing and he left behind his laptop. The roommates told police they found graphic images of young girls on the computer and on his computer discs and they quickly turned those items over to investigators.
Authorities said when Somer disappeared, they couldn’t immediately arrest Harrell because they had to prove that he personally downloaded the child pornography. Once that was confirmed, Harrell was reportedly charged with 55 counts of child pornography and child molestation.
His bond was set at $1 million.
Officials then sought to transfer Harrell from a jail in Meridian to Florida for further investigation into Somer’s disappearance and murder, but Harrell refused to sign extradition papers.
Florida’s governor Charlie Crist stepped in by requesting the governor of Mississippi to extradite Harrell against his will. That permission was granted and Harrell was extradited back to Florida in February 2010.
Formal charges against Harrell for Somer’s murder were brought on March 26. He was also charged with lewd and lascivious battery and sexual battery.
Clay County Sheriff Rick Beseler said detectives used DNA evidence, witnesses and statements from Harrell himself to solve the case.
While Florida officials have refused to state the way in which Somer was killed, they did confirm that she had been sexually assaulted.
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