Following the death of a 13-year-old girl who was allegedly found partially naked and stabbed in a utility closet at her apartment complex on July 4, authorities in Orlando, Florida have filed an indictment against a convicted child abuser that may result in life in prison or worse.
Jerry Dorisme, 28, has been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, sexual battery, and attempted sexual battery, according to prosecutors in the Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.
They claim that after purchasing a 12-inch knife from a store, he followed Rose Dieujuste at a distance, attacked her, and left her fatally stabbed inside a “little room.”
According to Florida law, first-degree murder committed during sexual battery or kidnapping is a capital offense, carrying a life without parole or death sentence upon conviction.
Authorities published CCTV footage of a “heavy-set” guy leaving the Palmetto at Lakeside apartments, where Rose was discovered, while they were still searching for Dorisme. A week passed before he was taken into custody.
Investigators surmise that Dieujuste was attacked while traveling to see a friend at a different building within the complex.
Rose’s buddy discovered her shoes and cell phone in the apartment complex’s stairwell. She made contact with the teen’s parents. After searching through several doors, one of Rose’s family found her partially nude and stabbed in a utility closet. On the scene, deputies were summoned.
The 13-year-old was barely alive and was not responding to CPR or first aid attempts. Rose passed away in the hospital from her wounds.
During a July hearing, Dorisme’s defense attorney tried to argue that the store’s video was too shaky to determine with certainty whether his client purchased a knife.
However, the prosecution refuted this claim, stating that the defendant’s father had contacted the sheriff’s office to identify his son based on the publicly available footage, as reported by fox news outlet. Additionally, according to investigators, they discovered a 12-inch knife’s packaging in the utility closet.
In any case, the defense has maintained that Dorisme lacks the mental capacity to face trial.
The defendant, who is illegally in the country and is from Haiti, was sentenced to one year in prison after entering a plea of not guilty in a child abuse case in 2021.
The charges of lewd or lascivious molestation in relation to the mistreatment of a “runaway” adolescent girl were later withdrawn, according to the sheriff. However, he had previously been taken into custody in June as part of a series of criminal cases involving a mental health hold.
Authorities were contacted on June 18 about a man who was allegedly ranting about not wanting to speak to the Russians and being chased by a woman named “Cat” while carrying a knife while strolling along the street in front of a daycare center, according to WESH.
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Even though they were able to convince Dorisme to put down the knife, the sheriff claimed that when the homeless man, who was rumored to be monitoring girls in the neighborhood, hit three cops, he was taken into custody under the state’s Baker Act mental health law.
But according to reports, prosecutors didn’t bring a criminal case until after the subsequent stabbing death.
Rose’s sister established a GoFundMe, stating that the victim had been raped and that a stab wound had left a “big hole” in her chest. The victim was “found with obvious signs of trauma” in a “little room.”
