DRIVEN TO DEATH

Justis Marie Garrett needed a lift after missing her bus, little did she know she would be taken down the wrong road...

Like a lot of teens her L age, Justis Marie Garrett was addicted to her phone, talking to her friends on social media platforms.

Having recently moved family homes from New Smyrna Beach to Sorrento, Florida, with her mum, Danielle Pratt, 34, and younger sister, five, in March 2018, it was time to celebrate.

Turning 16 in the same month, Justis was gifted a pair of black Nike trainers and the latest iPhone 8 to keep in touch with all of her friends at school, just a 20-minute commute from their new home.

And it was true that wherever Justis went, her phone came with her, too.

Only, unlike others, this didn't make her unsociable.

It was known that even if Justis' life was falling apart, she would remain devoted and care about others.

That was R something she had shown since the age of seven, after caring for her grandmother, Lizabeth Hammond, who had regular seizures.

To her gran, Justis was an absolute 'angel'.

And those attributes followed her to the school gates, too.

With straight A grades, and an interest in learning, Justis was the definition of a perfect student at New Smyrna Beach High School.

But like all teens, she would still find it extremely hard to wake up in time for the school bus.

With Danielle getting her five-year-old daughter ready at the same time, Justis was in charge of her own routine.

But falling back to sleep on the morning of 13 April 2018, Justis was running late, and it was likely that she was going to miss the school bus that would pick her up outside her home.

Grabbing a pair of pants, a hoodie, and her trusty Nike trainers, it was time to think of another option.

And it was decided that her mum's handyman boyfriend, Robert Kern, 43, would come to the rescue.

Forming a relationship in October 2017, Danielle and Robert were not living together, but Robert lived close by in a mobile home park with his mum.