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Bond Denied To Man Charged With Burning Girl To Death
POSTED: 6:46 am EST March 3,
2006
UPDATED: 6:25 pm EST March 3,
2006
WINTER GARDEN, Fla. -- Emotional relatives of a 17-year-old Orange County teen are shocked and saddened after learning of her murder. The man accused of dousing her with gasoline and lighting her on fire made his first court appearance Friday.
CLASSMATES: Struggling To Cope With Murder
Amelia Sookdeo's burned body was found off County Road 545 in Winter Garden on Saturday. Thursday night, police arrested 19-year-old Dane Abdool and charged him with first-degree murder.Friday afternoon, a judge denied bond for Abdool, which means he'll have to stay behind bars and that's exactly where the victim's family said he belongs, after one of the most heinous crimes even police have ever seen. "She was smart, she was beautiful,” said Sally Sookdeo, 17-year-old Amelia’s aunt.She said her niece was like a princess, always smiling. That's the image her family will remember, not the one left on the side of a Winter Garden road."Nothing like that should ever happen to anyone," she said.
An officer was on his way to another call last Saturday morning when he found Amelia's body on fire. Hours later, her family reported her missing when they noticed she'd climbed out of her bedroom window Friday night. Her mother had left a note. Praying she’d come back, she wrote: 'I love you. I can't live without you.'"I'm glad we were able to give them some closure but it's certainly not the closure they wanted," said Chief George Brennan, Winter Garden Police Department.Police said, at first, Amelia's ex-boyfriend, Dane Abdool, denied having seen her. Later, they matched tire tracks at the crime scene to his car and questioned him again."While we had him here and confronted him with some inconsistencies in his story we had, he then confessed to the crime," Chief Brennan said.Police said Abdool told them the couple got into an argument after Amelia told him she was pregnant with his child. They said he admitted stopping at a 7-Eleven to buy duct tape and gasoline, before driving to a remote stretch of CR-545, tying Amelia up and setting her on fire. In court, a judge said Abdool did not deserve bond.Her family puts their faith in justice and in God."He will get the worst. He will get what he deserves. Justice will not go undone," Sally Sookdeo said.
Amelia Sookdeo's burned body was found off County Road 545 in Winter Garden on Saturday. Thursday night, police arrested 19-year-old Dane Abdool and charged him with first-degree murder.Friday afternoon, a judge denied bond for Abdool, which means he'll have to stay behind bars and that's exactly where the victim's family said he belongs, after one of the most heinous crimes even police have ever seen. "She was smart, she was beautiful,” said Sally Sookdeo, 17-year-old Amelia’s aunt.She said her niece was like a princess, always smiling. That's the image her family will remember, not the one left on the side of a Winter Garden road."Nothing like that should ever happen to anyone," she said.
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