Missing Teen Found Dead On Hiking Trail Was Strangled By Girlfriend, Police Say

A Texas woman was arrested on Thursday in connection to the death of her missing girlfriend, whose body was found on a hiking trail in Houston last week, police said.

Shania Laneice Turner, 24, was charged with murder on Friday after allegedly strangling her girlfriend, Tierra Horn, 18. Horn was last seen on Jan. 2, Houston Police announced.

Horn’s older sister, Rokeisha Calton, told ABC affiliate KTRK that she last spoke to her sister on Jan. 2 to make plans for her upcoming 19th birthday party.

According to the outlet, family members had not heard from Horn since the phone call and reported her missing on Jan. 4.

Horn’s body was discovered the following day on a hiking trail near Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston, police said.

Days before Turner’s arrest, Calton told KTRK that her sister knew someone, later identified as Turner, who lived in the apartment building near where detectives found her body.

In an interview with KRIV, Horn’s other sister, Skinesha Granville, said Turner and Horn had been in a relationship for over a year but described it as “very toxic.”

“[She] used to hit on her and beat her, beat her up and stuff, and I just had to break it up,” Granville told the outlet.

“I guess she didn’t know how to approach us about it, or maybe she was scared to tell us, so when we did find out, it was way after the fact,” Granville added.

According to court documents cited by local outlet KPRC 2, Turner allegedly strangled her girlfriend following an argument in which she accused Horn of giving her a sexually transmitted disease.

Turner is held in Harris County jail on a $100,000 bond and is set to appear in court on Tuesday, according to court records. A public defender listed under her file did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for a statement.

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.