The mom of a 14-year-old girl fatally shot and burned in an alleged online dispute has issued a heartbreaking plea — begging people to post photos of her child since “she never would let me take any of her.”
“Please anyone with photos of my Danika… post them here,” Ashley Troy of Florida wrote on Facebook on Friday — three days after her daughter’s body was found in Pace near the southern coast of the state’s panhandle.
“She never would let me take any of her as a teen,” the stricken mom explained.
Florida girl Danika Troy, 14, was murdered after allegedly being lured into the woods by two tweens in November. Facebook/Ashley Troy
Danika’s heartbroken mother Ashley Troy asked Facebook friends to send her photos of her daughter in a post made three days after the teen’s body was found. Facebook/Ashley Troy
A flood of family and friends swiftly responded, posting scores of snaps and videos, including one showing Danika decked out in a pink tutu and wearing a birthday party hat as a little girl while holding a small pink guitar and singing into a toy microphone at what appears to be a park.
Most of the pictures are posted without captions — indicating none were needed amid the intense sorrow.
Also on the mom’s page is a photo she posted herself in September 2023 and which is now her Facebook cover photo.
It shows Danika and her little sister standing against a wall mural — each of them perfectly aligned with their own pair of rainbow-colored angel wings.
Danika posing with her little sister in a photo posted by her mother in 2023. Facebook/Ashley Troy
Authorities said Danika was lured into a wooded area and shot to death Dec. 2 by baby-faced suspects Kimahri Blevins, 14, and Gabriel Williams, 16.
Cops said the three teenagers were school “acquaintances” and had a falling out over Thanksgiving break, with boys allegedly incensed about Ashley blocking Blevins on social media and calling Williams “worthless” and a “gang-banger.”
She had been missing since Nov. 30 and was reported as a runaway the next day, Santa Rosa County Sheriff Bob Johnson told reporters at a press conference.
Kimahri Blevins, 14, is accused of murdering Danika. Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office
Gabriel Williams, 16, allegedly stole his mother’s gun for the shooting.
The suspects, who have both been charged in her murder, are accused of heartlessly setting her remains on fire after killing her.
Johnson said Williams had stolen his mother’s handgun for the attack.
Danika’s mom had posted photos of her daughter’s sky-blue and white Air Jordan sneakers as well as black puffer jacket when she went missing, desperately seeking information on her whereabouts.
Danika seen in an undated photo with her mother. Facebook/Ashley Troy
Danika seen in a photo holding a “Last day of 4th Grade” sign. Facebook/Ashley Troy
Danika seen working on a school project. Facebook/Ashley Troy
Danika seen in an undated Facebook photo. Facebook/Ashley Troy
Then in the later post asking for photos of her now-dead daughter, she wrote her plea below a somber photo of an island in the distance.
Ashley’s friend circle responded to the post with photo after photo of Danika, including one of her at school holding up a “ravenous reader” certificate with her name on it issued in June 2021.
Other photos showed Danika as a little girl collecting Easter eggs and as an adolescent still in pigtails.
One snapshot in the thread was from a previous Christmas, showing a beaming Ashley with Danika as a toddler, sporting a festive outfit and a tiny tiara.
