JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family of Iyana Sawyer expressed gratitude and relief following the guilty verdict Thursday against Johnathan Quiles, the man who was accused of killing the pregnant 16-year-old in 2018.
In a statement through their attorney, the family called Quiles a “predator” and asked everyone to keep their family in their prayers.
MORE: Johnathan Quiles found guilty of murder in the death of his pregnant 16-year-old niece Iyana Sawyer
“Today, a nearly 5 year nightmare ends with another measure of justice. We thank the jury, law enforcement and judge, as well as all of our friends and family who reached out when we needed it most. Johnathan Quiles has now been found guilty of murder and will go back before a jury to determine his fate on earth, but he chose to end Iyana’s young life. He was a predator and the jury saw that with ease. We are grateful. Please keep our family in your prayers. Thank you from the family of Iyana Sawyer,” family lawyer John Phillips wrote in a statement.
Phillips is representing the family in the wrongful death lawsuit against Quiles.
A jury found Johnathan Quiles guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his pregnant 16-year-old niece following about an hour of deliberations on Thursday evening.
Quiles was also found guilty of sexual battery and the first-degree murder of her unborn child.
As the verdict was read in the courtroom, one family member hunched over in tears.
The verdict came on the sixth day of the trial that included emotional testimony and an avalanche of evidence against Quiles, who was accused of murdering his niece by marriage who was five months pregnant when she disappeared in December 2018. The prosecution alleged the child Sawyer was carrying was Quiles’, and he was also charged with having sex with a minor because Sawyer was only a teenager at the time.
Belkis Plata, a Jacksonville lawyer not associated with the case, watched the trial and said a quick verdict shows the state put together a case and a timeline that was hard for the defense to poke holes in.
“This is a case that was put together well, it was organized well. The word coincidence came up a lot today, and circumstantial. But at some point accident and coincidence is just murder and the jury saw through that real quick,” she said.
“From her leaving Terry Parker, from him leaving his job, from there being a red minivan that leaves his job for this period of time, the text messages to his brother...the conversation with the inmates, the Snapchats. I think everything together establishes there was a relationship, there was a motive behind wanting her not to be around,” Plata said.
Phillips said Iyana’s mother is grateful for the guilty verdict but the situation is still painful.
“Not having the body not knowing where she rests is a continued open wound, it will always be an open wound,” Phillips told News4JAX.
Disappearance and investigation
It has been almost five years since Sawyer disappeared. On Dec. 19, 2018, Sawyer was seen on surveillance video at Terry Parker High School. She was never seen again, and no trace of her has been found.
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Police believe Sawyer, who was five months pregnant at the time, was shot and killed, then placed into a dumpster and taken to the Otis Road Landfill. Investigators looked through more than 5,000 tons of trash but never found her remains.
A former CSI detective and former K-9 officer testified last week about the 16-day search at the Otis Road Landfill that turned up items related to the case, but no human remains.
Quiles will now face the death penalty and a 2023 ruling now allows a death sentence with only an 8 to 4 recommendation by the jury.
The jury will return to the courtroom on Monday to begin the penalty phase.