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WEST JORDAN — Residents of a West Jordan neighborhood are heartbroken over the murder of 6-year-old Sierra Newbold nearly two weeks ago. But a measure of relief came Tuesday when police announced they had arrested the man they believe is responsible for Sierra's death.
In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, West Jordan police announced the arrest of 41-year-old Terry Lee Black — a man who lived in an apartment complex near the Newbold home. His wife and children also attended church with Sierra's family.
Related:
Neighbor arrested in murder of 6-year-old Sierra Newbold
Outstanding police work, some lucky breaks, a strong hunch and possibly even divine intervention led to the arrest of a man accused of murdering 6-year-old Sierra Newbold.Neighbor Lee-Ann Luke told KSL News not a moment goes by that she's not thinking of little Sierra.
"Every time we go outside, you just see her little face," she said Tuesday afternoon. "She was the sweetest little girl."
Her hands shaking, Luke said she passes the spot where Sierra died multiple times a day.
"Knowing he was just a few feet from our house — and we have daughters. It could have been one of them. It just could have been one of them," Luke sobbed. "I don't know why it was Sierra. I don't know why he picked her."
In Sierra's neighborhood — where pink and purple ribbons are still tied around every tree, mailbox, street sign and light pole lining the streets and stuffed animals are placed at the corner of Sierra's house as a memorial — more residents reacted to news of the arrest with shock, anger and relief.
I want capital punishment to take its course. I want it to be swift, and I want it to be short. He's not human.
–Cora Jcowski, West Jordan resident
"I want capital punishment to take its course. I want it to be swift, and I want it to be short," Cora Jcowski said. “He’s not human. Let him be gone. Let him be off this planet.”
Phillip Carpenter, who lives next to Black, said the news of the arrest was disturbing.
“He was sleeping 20 feet away from my bedroom, yeah. It's a little odd," he said. "It's scary not knowing who your neighbors are.”
“We have kids that we haven’t been letting out of the house,” said neighbor Ruby Farnsworth, who along with her six kids hosted Sierra at her house the night before the girl was killed. “I’m just happy that it is over. I’m just so happy.”
She described Black as a “monster,” as did an angry Tyler Gaisford.
“What kind of monster can break into someone’s house, and then rape a girl and then drown her, and then move on from it?” Gaisford said. “He’s lucky the cops have him.”
Linda Hunter said police seemed to thoroughly investigate her neighborhood.
"They checked our grounds twice and interviewed us twice and checked my son because he's 46 years old and lives at home," she said. "As good as the police were at checking things out, we were scared because my 17-year-old granddaughter is living with us."
Now many of the Newbolds' neighbors are faced with the same challenge: sharing the news of what happened with her kids.
"I can't explain this to them," Luke cried. "I don't know how I'm going to tell them that a killer lived a few feet away from our house.
"It's a crime you just can't imagine," she continued, "someone coming into (your) home, taking your daughter right under your nose and killing her. You just can't imagine it."
Luke said Black's family are victims as well. And knowing what happened to Sierra is just too much: the Lukes are planning on moving out of their house.
