A convicted felon in Florida is accused of dragging his 11-year-old step-granddaughter into the woods and raping her in the middle of the night, police say.
Darrell Mills was arrested and charged with kidnapping a child younger than the age of 13, sexual battery on a child under 12, committing sexual acts, and more according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
The horrific ordeal began when the 50-year-old woke up about 1.50am on Sunday and told his wife that he was going to get food, the arrest affidavit said.
The report states that Mill was ‘drunk and upset over his daughter’s death’ after he attended her funeral on Saturday, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
Mill’s wife went to check on him in their Apopka home when she noticed that the door to her granddaughter’s room was locked.
Darrell Mills (arrest booking photo) was arrested and is facing a number of charges, including kidnapping a child younger than the age of 13 and sexual battery on a child under 12, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office
She then picked the lock on the door and discovered Mills inside the girl’s room, according to the arrest report.
He then dragged the 11-year-old girl out of the room by the arm and out of the house before taking her into the woods, the report states.
Authorities said the young girl was screaming hysterically and that she was naked from the waist down.
He then forced her into a green Chevrolet SUV where he raped her, police say.
Police who arrived to the home issued an Amber Alert for the girl around 7.33am after she was abducted.
Roughly 100 law-enforcement officials from the sheriff’s office, Apopka Police Department and the Florida Highway Patrol responded to the scene at the home and launched an extensive search for the 11-year-old girl.
Three hours after the Amber Alert was issued, a citizen flagged police down to report spotting the girl with Mills.
The 50-year-old convicted felon (above) is accused of dragging his 11-year-old step-granddaughter into the woods and raping her in the middle of the night, police say. Mills has been incarcerated at least eight times since 1989, according to the Department of Corrections
‘It’s so important for our citizens in Orange County to get involved when we have a case like this,’ Orange County Maj. Rick Meli, who oversees the Criminal Investigations Division said.
‘We did get flagged down by a citizen who told us where they were … it’s so important to law enforcement when citizens get involved.’
The little girl told police that Mills, who is married to her biological grandmother, came into her room with a knife and threatened to kill her, the report states.
Deputies say that Mills performed oral sex on the victim.
The girl’s father, who has not been named by DailyMail.com to protect the victim, said on Facebook: ‘I want to thank the community for [coming] together to help find her but most of all I want to thank the police officer[s] who [were] out there helping to find my baby.
‘I hope he get[s] a life sentence cause my daughter didn’t deserve that.’
Mills has been incarcerated at least eight times since 1989, according to the Department of Corrections.
In 1996, he was sentenced to five years in prison for a number of charges including stealing a firearm, stealing a concealed firearm and grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Three months after Mills was found guilty of smuggling contraband into a county detention facility and escaping, according to records.
He most recently was sentenced to five years in prison for grand theft of a motor vehicle in Marion County in 2007.
He was released from prison in 2014. and according to his Facebook page, married the victim’s grandmother