The tragic death of a 19-year-old woman from New Iberia, Louisiana, has been linked to a 29-year-old man she met online. Authorities say Sheryl M. Turner was last seen by her family on December 31, 2023, before traveling to the West Monroe home of Anthony Pierce Holland Jr., according to a press release from the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Department.
The two had started a romantic relationship via text messages, and Turner informed her family that she was heading to Holland Jr.’s residence for a stay, stated the West Monroe Police Department, which worked with the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office on the case.
According to KLFY-TV, Turner’s phone connected to Wi-Fi near Holland Jr.’s device, but it stopped transmitting on the night of January 2. Her twin sister, Sherry, wrote on a GoFundMe campaign that Turner was reported missing on January 3, adding, “As the days went by, we knew something was wrong.”
Nearly three weeks later, on January 24, the Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office received a report about a body floating in the Ouachita River. Deputies recovered a torso without a head or extremities. The autopsy findings indicated homicide, and DNA from Turner’s twin sister helped identify the remains on February 23.
Forensic data and surveillance pointed to Holland Jr. as a suspect. On April 23, West Monroe Police executed a search warrant at Holland Jr.’s residence, where they found evidence of a violent crime. During interviews with the suspect, he admitted to killing and dismembering Turner inside his home, and disposing of the remains in a waterway that connects to the Ouachita River.
Holland Jr. was arrested without incident and booked into the Ouachita Correctional Center on one count of second-degree murder, according to the police.
In her obituary, Turner was described as “a shining light to all who knew her, with a kind and loving personality that radiated through her beautiful smile and touched the hearts of those around her.”
