17-year-old Gabriel Gaeta who allegedly raped and murdered his 6-year-old neighbor has been arrested and charged for both crimes as an adult. The day before he was arrested for the shocking crime, the teenager had attended a vigil for the girl, Jenise Wright, 6, who went missing Aug. 2.
Gaeta “clearly nodded yes” when asked during an interview Saturday if he had killed the little girl, court documents say.
The teen, who was a High School wrestler, faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree rape of a child. A judge set bail at $1 million.
Gaeta strangled and beat to death Jenise after raping the little girl, police said. She died of blunt force trauma to the head and her body was found Thursday submerged in a muddy bog, covered by a wooden pallet in a patch of woods.