FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A registered sex offender is facing more charges after Flagler County detectives say he strangled an 11-year-old boy, tied him up, and forced him to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana for three days at a campsite.
Flagler County deputies found the missing 11-year-old from St. Johns County when they pulled over 60-year-old Darnell Hairston off U.S. 1 on New Year’s Eve.
Authorities received a tip that Hairston, a known sex offender, was seen with two teens.
During the traffic stop, the 11-year-old told deputies he had been kidnapped, and he believed Hairston was going to kill him. As deputies tried to arrest Hairston, body camera video shows Hairston running and trying to grab a deputy’s gun, later being tackled by deputies.
While deputies were making the arrest, deputies say 15-year-old Junior Bishop took off in Hairston’s truck, nearly hitting a deputy. Bishop later crashed with a deputy cruiser.
A newly released arrest affidavit says the 11-year-old victim was in a Snapchat group chat with Junior Bishop. The report says the victim told Bishop of a sexual assault on his friend that Sheriff Rick Staly says may have involved Darnell Hairston.
“Hairston thought this individual had information that could put him away in prison. And that resulted in him and Junior Bishop, the 15-year-old, concocting a plot to lure this 11-year-old into a rural area of Flagler County,” Staly told Channel 9.
The report says the victim met with Bishop near Fredrick Street and East Deep Creek Boulevard and later went to a nearby wooded area. There, the victim said he saw blankets, pillows, beers, camping chairs, and a large kitchen knife.The report states “Darnell [Hairston] then came up behind the victim and choked him out to the point where he couldn’t make a sound nor breathe and quickly blacked out.”
The victim said when he woke up, they put tape over his mouth and tied him with shoelaces and extension cords. The report says he was fed alcohol and marijuana.
The victim told investigators, when they left the campsite, he was forced to travel with a blanket over him the entire time.
The report says Hairston told investigators he knew the 11-year-old was missing from St. Johns County but couldn’t tell investigators a reason why he never told the victim’s parents. Hairston claimed to investigators he only wanted to fish with the victim.
The report says Hairston knew the victim because he fixed ATVs in the St. Johns County area.Deputies are now thanking the caller who reported that they saw Hairston, a known sex offender, with two children.
“He potentially saved this kid’s life, and that’s pretty amazing. It just goes to show you if you see something, I mean literally call it in, say something,” said Chief Deputy Joe Barile.
“My detectives, and from what I have been briefed on this case, I think we all believed he was going to die that night. And our victim felt that way also. He was truly frightened,” said Sheriff Rick Staly.
Friday, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hairston for kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Detectives served the warrant at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where Hairston was already being held on a $125,000 bond for the prior arrest. He is now being held without bond.
Bishop is currently in the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Sheriff Staly says Bishop could be facing additional charges but that he is not cooperating with their investigation.
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