An Ohio teenager was allegedly killed by her ex-boyfriend during a senior trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the news has devastated her community.
According to law enforcement, the incident happened while 18-year-old Natalie Martin was staying with a group of friends that included her ex-boyfriend, 18-year-old Blake Linkous, at a vacation rental, Fox News reported Wednesday.
Linkous is accused of attacking the young woman on June 6.
“Blake William Linkous did with malice aforethought cause the death of Natalie Martin. The defendant did so by manually strangling the victim,” the incident report says.
An image shows the suspect in the case:
Authorities arrested Linkous on June 8, the Horry County Police Department said. He was charged with murder and held without bond, WMBF News reported Friday.
“Arrest warrants we obtained state evidence at the scene along with witness statements led investigators to determine Linkous manually strangled Martin to death,” the outlet noted:
The Fox article said the law enforcement documents did not reveal what triggered the incident that has left her loved ones in disbelief.
A friend of the young woman, Brooklyn Ferrell, reportedly said Martin and Linkous had been in a relationship for a few years but broke up not long ago.
Ferrell created a GoFundMe page for Martin’s funeral expenses, and as of Thursday morning it has raised $31,955 of its $15,000 goal.
The two young people graduated from Philo High School in Duncan Falls, Ohio, in May, and Principal Troy Dawson told Fox News Digital the entire community is grieving the loss.
“We’re hurting. It’s a tragedy. We are just shocked with disbelief. She was well-liked by her classmates and teachers and was very sweet and very funny,” he said of the softball and soccer player.
In a social media post Monday, the Philo Athletic Boosters announced a candlelight vigil was being held to honor Martin on Thursday evening at the school’s soccer field:
Martin’s obituary said she “lived her life to the fullest with joy, laughter, and love. She brought true happiness to all that knew her” and enjoyed being outside in nature:
She loved to hunt, shoot guns, fish, wrangle snakes, plant and nurture flowers, and could gut and skin a deer better than most grown men. Natalie spent much time loving on her dogs, Radar, Hella, and Tiny Little B, her many chickens, and her cat, Phoebe. She had a life-long love for softball and soccer. Natalie’s beauty shined like a ray of sunlight and her smile could brighten a whole room. Her glowing blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes represented that she was truly an angel here on Earth.
Her funeral took place on Wednesday, Fox reported.