A 16-year-old accused of raping and killing a woman in a vacant home in southwest Miami-Dade was indicted on murder charges earlier this week and will be tried as an adult.
Jeremiah Williams will be transferred to the Miami-Dade jail after a judge denied his attorney's request to keep the teen in juvenile jail at a hearing Wednesday morning.
Williams' attorney said the teen had his felony arraignment earlier this week. He he is in the process of trying to get Williams out of jail pending trial.
Police said Williams and several other males followed 53-year-old Francis Harris to a vacant home in the area of Southwest 171st Street and Southwest 102nd Avenue in Perrine on July 7.
"She tried to run from them and they caught her right there and then beat her to death and raped her," said Harris' husband, Kenneth Bether.
Harris was raped and beaten so badly she died from blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Her lifeless body was later found near the front porch.
"They took the love of my life, they took my mom, someone who was beautiful inside and out. Me personally I can forgive but I can't forget," said Harris' daughter, Natalie Williams.
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So far no one else has been arrested in the alleged crime.
Williams will be in court charged as an adult in less than a month. He's facing a first degree murder charge and a possible life sentence if convicted.
