12-Year-Old Girl Killed While Home Alone

A 12-year-old girl from Nashville, Tennessee was murdered while home alone after texting her mother that someone was knocking at the door, the Tennessean reports.

Yhoana Arteaga texted her mother at about 5:30 p.m. Thursday that someone was knocking at the door, marking the last time her family would ever hear from her. The pre-teen, who had been home on crutches recovering from a skating accident, was found dead at 6:45 p.m. by her mother, sister and brother. Her mother had last seen her at 12:30 p.m. that day before she returned to work.

"This is a horrible, brutal thing," said Sgt. David Kautzman of the Metro Nashville Police Department. "I've never seen anything this brutal in my entire career."

Investigators have confirmed that Arteaga was not stabbed or shot and that there were no obvious signs of forced entry into the trailer where she lived.

"An examination of the crime scene, as well as autopsy results, show that Yhoana was, frankly, brutally murdered," Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said at a news conference Tuesday outside Arteaga's home. "Without being overly specific, it was blunt force trauma to her body. Her clothing was in disarray."

"We do believe that the victim knew her assailant," said Lt. William Mackall.

"She seemed like she was going to be a stand-up person, just from the kindness she always showed," the park manager at her family's mobile home community told the Tennessean of Arteaga, who was a 7th grader at Liberty Collegiate Academy.

An investigation into the murder is ongoing, and anyone with information on the crime is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463.

Photo Credit: Facebook / Liberty Collegiate Academy