The anguished mother of slain Florida teenager Danika Troy told The Post on Sunday that she doesn’t blame the boys accused of killing her daughter, instead pointing the finger at the “evil influence” in the world.
“She loved them, and they brutally murdered her,” Ashley Troy said by text message.
Danika, 14, was killed after being lured into the woods in Pace by 14-year-old Kimahri Blevins and 16-year-old Gabriel Williams, who set fire to her remains after gunning her down, police said.
The three teens were friends, but the boys then wanted Danika killed because she slighted them when she blocked Blevins’ social-media account and insulted Williams, calling him “worthless and a gang-banger,” authorities have said.
Ashley said her daughter’s death bears a too-close-for-comfort resemblance to “Under the Bridge,” a Hulu true-crime series about the 1997 murder of 14-year-old Reena Virk, who was brutally killed by a group of teenagers in British Columbia, Canada.
“It’s all I can do not to picture it constantly,” she said of the series, which aired in 2024.
Despite the unthinkable act, which has sent shockwaves of grief through Danika’s family and community, Ashley said she isn’t harboring hatred in her heart for the young suspects.
“I don’t blame those boys. I blame evil influence. I don’t hate them, I hate what they did to my baby,” she said.
“But I want nothing less than for them to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” she added. “She was beautiful and loved Jesus,’’ Ashley said of her daughter. “If anything would make this sacrifice worth it, it would be leading others to Christ.’’
The mom said her church, Avalon Baptist Church in nearby Milton, has flocked to her family’s side in their time of tragedy.
“Our church has flooded us with love, taken over everything. My family was hit very hard, I don’t know what I’d do without my church family,’’ she said.
In addition to a GoFundMe page set up to help cover funeral costs and benefit the family, the church is holding a candlelight vigil Monday night in Danika’s honor.
“Our community is coming together to honor the life of Danika, a beautiful soul taken from us too soon,” an announcement for the service Ashley shared with The Post reads in part.
“Please join us for a candlelight vigil as we remember Danika, celebrate her life and ask God to bring peace, healing, and strength to everyone who carries her in their hearts.”
The two baby-faced suspects have been charged with first-degree premeditated murder.
The post Anguished mom of murdered Fla. teen Danika Troy says ‘evil influence’ to blame — not boys accused of slaying appeared first on New York Post.
