Man met teenager online, murdered her and dumped dismembered body in river: Authorities

In a case pretty much spanning the state of Louisiana, a man is accused of killing and dismembering a missing teenager, whose torso was found floating in a river, authorities said.

Anthony Pierce Holland Jr., 29, is charged with second-degree murder for allegedly taking the life of Sheryl Turner, 19.

“Sheryl was full of life and a sweetheart,” her twin sister, Sherry Turner, wrote in a now-complete GoFundMe campaign to pay for the funeral. “She didn’t bother nobody, always stayed to herself so who can be so cruel!”

The killer, authorities said, is Holland.

The Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Department and West Monroe Police Department said that a hunter found Sheryl Turner’s torso floating in the local Ouachita River on Jan. 24. 2024. They identified the remains by using her DNA.

Investigators looked back in her history.

“She sent a text message to her twin sister stating that she had met someone in Ouachita Parish and was going to move there,” deputies wrote. “Sheryl also sent a text message to a family friend stating that she had made it to West Monroe, La. and she would talk to him soon.”

Turner was from New Iberia, southeast of Lafayette in the southern part of Louisiana. Ouachita Parish and the city of West Monroe are further up in the northern part of the state. Catahoula Parish is closer to the middle.

“Through forensic data, it was later determined the victim engaged in a romantic relationship over text message with someone from West Monroe,” police wrote. “From statements given by Turner’s family, she left New Iberia to stay with a person she met online. Turner’s last known location was later determined to be a residence in West Monroe. ”

That residence was Holland’s, investigators wrote in an affidavit obtained by ABC and CW affiliate KATC.

Investigators determined that he and Turner started a relationship through the app TextNow. The two planned for him to pick her up from her mother’s home in New Iberia, authorities said. He allegedly picked her up on Jan. 1 and brought her back to his Ouachita Parish home. But her phone stopped transmitting on Jan. 2, right before midnight, investigators said. Authorities claim it had been connected to a WIFI network near the defendant’s apartment.

Investigators said that Holland’s car was on traffic cameras near where Turner’s remains were found, and that this was four days before the discovery of the remains. It was consistent with how long her body was in the water, they reportedly claim.

Holland allegedly told investigators he started a relationship with Turner online, and he took her to his home, and killed her during a sex act. He dismembered her remains, and put it in bags before dumping those bags in a tributary of the Ouachita River, as well as knife he used and all her possessions, he allegedly said.

Investigators said they executed a search warrant, and found “a lot of blood in his apartment, on a mattress, and on the floor.”

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