Weeks after turning 15 years old, Sabriya McLean of New Castle, Delaware was stabbed 80 times and set on fire by a man she met on Facebook, NBC 10 reports.
McLean reportedly traveled to Philadelphia to meet up with the suspect — 23-year-old Cole Swaringer-Herring — on Monday night. He confessed to stabbing McLean in his apartment, but no motive has been revealed. According to reports, the suspect confessed the crime to his parents, who alerted police the next morning.
The teenager’s remains were found under a pile of leaves in an alleyway. Police are looking into Swaringer-Herring’s past after “several run ins with police.” Court documents show he’s faced robbery, terroristic threats, simple assault and reckless endangerment charges over the years.
“It’s extremely unfortunate given her age and what happened,” said Capt. Jack Ryan. “It was a very violent act so we’re looking at him in connection to some other possible cases that we’ve had.”
In 2014, when McLean was just 11 years old, she was reported missing. Reports at the time said she “was hiding from her parents” and was found unharmed.
Swaringer-Herring is charged with murder, arson, abuse of a corpse and related offenses and is currently being held in a Philadelphia jail without bail.
McLean was reported missing by her family earlier in the week.