‘A heinous crime’: 16-year-old boy accused of stabbing grandmother to death in Rockledge

ROCKLEDGE, Fla. — A 16-year-old boy is accused of stabbing his grandmother to death in Rockledge in what police described as “a heinous crime.”

Rockledge Police Chief Joseph LaSata said the teen, identified as Jaylin Christian, is facing a charge of first-degree murder for killing his grandmother, Muriel Emerson, 57, in the Rockledge home that they shared.

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“It was calculated. It was brutal,” LaSata said.

Police said the boy texted the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office around 11:45 p.m. on Wednesday stating that he’d just killed someone.

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When deputies caught up with Christian, they said he had several wounds and blood on him. Police said he told deputies that he killed his grandmother in their home on Carolina Avenue.

Officers said they found Emerson stabbed to death in the kitchen of the home. They said that based on evidence found in the home and what the teen told them, officers believe the teen planned the murder ahead of time.

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“She suffered multiple stab wounds throughout her body and we did discover evidence in that house that this was planned. It was not a spur-of-the-moment act,” LaSata said.

LaSata said Christian was a student at Rockledge High School and had lived in the home with his grandmother for six to eight months.

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Deputies said Emerson was nearing retirement from her position as an investigator with the Florida Commission on Offender Review.

The teen is set to make his first court appearance at 1 p.m. on Thursday.

Stay tuned to Channel 9 Eyewitness News for updates.

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