State attorney to give update on case against runaways accused of shooting at Volusia deputies - WKMG News 6 & ClickOrlando

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – The Volusia County state attorney is set to provide an update on the case against two juvenile runaways accused of opening fire on deputies with guns found inside a home they broke into, including an AK-47.

According to body camera video and reports from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the foster children -- a 14-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy -- ran away from a nearby children’s home before ransacking a home Enterprise Osteen Road and discovering a cache of weapons. When deputies were out looking for the children and saw the home, they attempted to make contact but the girl and boy opened fire on deputies with the recently found firearms, according to Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

The boy and girl repeatedly fired at deputies for about 30 minutes, according to sheriff’s officials, before deputies shot the 14-year-old girl in the chest and arm and the boy surrendered.

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Currently, they both face felony charges of attempted first-degree murder of law enforcement officers and armed burglary but the state attorney’s office has been reviewing the case to determine their formal charges.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s office will hold a news conference Thursday at 2:30 p.m. to provide an update on the case that garnered national attention. It’s the second case for the state attorney’s office in recent weeks involving young suspects. A 14-year-old St. Johns County boy was recently charged as an adult in the stabbing death of his 13-year-old classmate.

Larizza will address reporters in the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach. Watch his remarks live on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at the top of this story.

The 14-year-old girl made her first appearance before a judge last week from a bed. Deputies said she is still receiving medical care at a juvenile detention facility. The judge ordered the girl to remain in custody.

Prior to her first appearance, the 14-year-old had been in the hospital since June 2, when investigators say she and a 12-year-old boy ran away from Florida United Methodist Children’s Home, prior to getting into a shootout with deputies.

During his first appearance, the 12-year-old boy was also ordered to remain in custody.

Sheriff’s office records for both the girl and boy show an extensive history of mental illness. Both children have been hospitalized under the Baker Act, a Florida law that allows authorities to temporarily detain someone for emergency mental health services.

Since the shooting, Chitwood has demanded action and criticized state agencies, including the Department of Juvenile Justice and the Department of Children and Families, both of which had encounters with the suspects at early ages.

“The Department of Juvenile Justice failing to do its job. DCF is failing to do its job and everybody is pointing the finger at one another,” Chitwood said two days after the shooting.

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