MARION COUNTY, Fla. — The second of three teenagers accused of killing their three friends in Marion County several years ago will spend the rest of his life behind bars, a judge ordered Wednesday.
Tahj Brewton, now 19, was given four life sentences for each of the murders of Michael Hodo, Camille Quarles, and Layla Silvernail in March 2023, plus an armed robbery with a firearm. Because he was just 16 at the time of the shooting, he will be eligible for a review of his sentence after 25 years, minus two years for time already served.
Investigators said Brewton, Christopher Atkins, and Robert Robinson were in the Ocklawaha area that night with the three other teens and robbed a man at gunpoint before the three boys turned the guns on their friends.
The reason for the shootings has still not been explained, though testimony indicated Hodo and the others had items that the boys desired. Investigators believe Brewton shot Hodo, Robinson shot Silvernail, and Atkins shot Quarles before Robinson fired a second time. However, they said Brewton and Robinson have both blamed each other for the shootings.
They also said Hodo’s shooting appeared to have been planned, telling the judge Brewton made comments to others indicating he had been thinking about robbing Hodo for weeks.
Silvernail was left for dead near the shooting site. Brewton dumped Hodo’s body in a ditch about a half mile away, while the boys left Quarles’ body inside Silvernail’s car, which they attempted to sink into a retention pond.
The case shocked Marion County as each of the three victims turned up on subsequent days. Investigators said they tracked down the three boys using a license plate reader and information from one of the victim’s fathers.
“Mikey told me -- after he started hanging out with those boys -- that they squashed their beef,” Hodo’s stepmother, Samantha Husk, said in court Wednesday. “But, they were setting him up.”
Husk said she encouraged Hodo to stop hanging out with the other boys, but he told her he felt he needed to for his own safety, given the dynamics of Oklawaha’s teenage social scene.
Brewton’s sentence was more severe than the same judge gave Atkins on Tuesday. Atkins was only indicted for Quarles’ death and the judge cited Atkins’ age at the time of the shooting – 12 – as the biggest factor in his sentence.
Investigators testified Brewton had a much longer criminal history, including multiple carjackings, including some at gunpoint. They said he also stole a gun from a man that was later used in the shootings of Hodo, Silvernail, and Quarles and built a shank while incarcerated last year.
Prosecutors asked for life in prison, saying Brewton’s actions “crushed” the community.
“Whatever he wants, he takes,” one told the judge. “He wanted that car [in a prior armed robbery], took it with a gun… He wanted Michael Hodo dead, he took a life.”
Brewton’s grandparents were among the family members who on his behalf, saying Brewton’s lived with them leading up to the shooting.
They said he started out normally, getting good grades and doing chores.
They said his attitude shifted over time. He played video games constantly, they testified, and his grades began to slip as his problems with the law increased.
“Tahj is not a bad kid,” his grandfather said, turning to the family. “We are very sorry for your loss, and I hope you all will accept how our family feels to what happened.”
But that didn’t help him.
“I just find that the seriousness and the heinousness of the offenses outweigh any mitigation,” Judge Robert Hodges said, calling life the “only” choice in this case as the victims’ families sobbed.
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