t/w guns, murder, teen murder, suicide attempts, not proofread my brain is not braining rn
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
a photo of Nina (left corner), Lyra (blonde girl right), Juliette (black girl right), Sarah (top left), and Naomi (top right), posted on Nina's Instagram, three hours before their deaths Nina: April 4th, 2001 - September 7th, 2018 Lyra: March 17th, 2003 - September 7th, 2018 Juliette: June 26th, 2003 - September 7th, 2018 Sarah: August 17th, 2002 - September 7th, 2018 Naomi: April 20th, 2001 - September 7th, 2018
UNSOLVED
Nina Caroline Hernandez, Lyra Scarlett Barnes, Juliette Natalia Kennedy, Sarah Victoria Kent, and Naomi Reese Dye are five teenage girls who were found murdered while having a sleepover.
All of these girls had been born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, save for Naomi, who was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, but moved to Durham when she was three.
Nina was an only child in the Hernandez family and was fairly spoiled by her parents, Jaun and Maryann Hernandez and her family was fairly well off. Lyra was the younger of two sisters and her parents, Janie and Carter Barnes, divorced when she was thirteen. Juliette was the middle of three, raised by a single mother, Caroline Kennedy. Sarah had the stereotypical nuclear family, as her parents, Victoria and Ryan Kent were still together, and she had an older brother named James. Naomi was the oldest in a family of four. All had normal, standard lives.
They'd all made friends with each other the previous school year, seeing as they all had the same A and B day lunch shifts. Peers and family members of the girls said their personalities worked well together. Juliette and Lyra had also begun dating towards the end of their Freshman year, and were very out and proud. Juliette was bisexual, Lyra was a lesbian.
Caroline Kennedy said; "A couple of them were talkers, a couple of them were listeners. Juliette, she was a bit more of a listener, but she did chime in every now and again. Just, what I'm saying is the girls all had amazing chemistry with one another."
On Friday, October 7th, 2018, the girls went over to Nina's for a sleepover after school. All of their parents knew. Nina's parents were in Charlotte for the weekend. The girls posted a few pictures on their Instagrams, and the final above picture was posted on Nina's Instagram, with the caption;
night in with the girlies!!!
It also tagged the girls accounts.
At 8:03PM (EST time), Juliette called her older brother, Jonas Kennedy, age eighteen, saying that all of the girls felt like they were being watched. She said they didn't want to call the police, because 'I think I'm being watched' isn't enough incentive for the police to arrive, so even if they did call the police, there's a good chance they wouldn't come. With Nina's permission, Jonas came over.
At 8:27PM (EST time), Jonas arrived at the Hernandez home. He found the door slightly ajar and he stepped inside. The very first thing he was greeted with was Naomi's body, at the bottom of the stairs, which had three gunshot wounds to the back of the head. Sprawled on the steps, was Nina's body. Nina had been shot in the head as well and her left index, middle and ring finger had been severed. At the top of the stairs, he could see Sarah, who had a knife lodged in her chest; there would later be no fingerprints found on the knife.
Jonas went no further than that, stepped outside the home, and called the police. He was barely able to speak on it. The police arrived at 8:40PM (EST time). They went upstairs and found Juliette in the hall, almost fully decapitated. Finally, they went into Nina's bedroom and found Lyra with several gunshot wounds to the chest. Nina's bedroom window had also been broken into.
All girls were fully clothed and had no other injuries.
They would be buried on September 28th, 2018, the five girls having a joint funeral.
The rest of the girls families either could not be reached or did not want to comment.
One popular theory, especially amongst the girls classmates, was that they were killed by a Junior student, Isaac Stevenson. Isaac was known for having anger issues, he had gotten into quite a few fights and had been suspended nearly six times. He lived down the street from Nina and in January of 2018, he told Lyra that he liked her romantically. Lyra did not return the feelings and, according to Isaac's younger sister, Kaylee, he attempted to hang himself after this. Nobody was home with Isaac at the time of the murders, but he was questioned and claimed innocence. There were no witnesses either, so, Isaac was let free. Isaac has since left Durham, and though she hasn't talked to him in two years, Kaylee said that last they spoke, Isaac was living in Boston.
Another theory is that Jonas killed the girls but this was very easily disproved and, though Jonas was question, there was zero evidence whatsoever.
Another theory is that it was a murder-suicide by one of the girls, but there were no guns in the home, and it was clear none of the girls' wounds had been self-inflicted, so this was tossed out.
May Nina Hernandez, Lyra Barnes, Juliette Kennedy, Sarah Kent and Naomi Dye rest in peace.
