What an incredible monster, he pretended to befriend her mother, then snuck out of a Walmart with her 8 year old daughter and killed her in his van. Yep, glad Florida still has the death penalty. Too bad it takes so long to implement it after conviction.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A registered sex offender recently released from jail was charged Saturday with murder in the death of an 8-year-old Florida girl abducted while shopping with her mother.
Donald James Smith of Jacksonville was taken into custody after police cornered his white van on Interstate 95, said Mike Williams, director of investigations at the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
Authorities had put out an Amber Alert with details of Smith's van early Saturday, hours after receiving a 911 call from Charish Perriwinkle's mother about the missing girl.
Prior to the alleged abduction Friday night, Smith, 56, befriended Charish and her mother at a dollar store, and "offered to take them to Wal-Mart and buy her family some clothes," Williams said.
"They appeared to be down on their luck and he could help them out."
After spending a couple hours inside the Wal-Mart together, Smith offered to buy hamburgers and walked with Charish to the front of the store, Williams said.
Instead of stopping to buy the snack, Smith walked Charish outside and the two of them got into his van, Williams said.
The girl's mother called 911 when she realized Charish and Smith were missing. An Amber Alert was issued, and a tip about a suspicious van spotted in the woods near a church led investigators to Charish's body Saturday morning
