Charge Upgraded To First-Degree Murder In 2018 Homicide Of Teen

Daytona Beach, FL – A man’s charge has been upgraded to first-degree murder after he was indicted by a grand jury for his role in the 2018 death of a 16-year-old girl. Robert Kern’s arrest came over a year after joggers discovered the body of Justis Garrett in a wooded area in DeLand back in April 2018. Just five days prior to the discovery, Garrett was reported missing from her Lake County home. She grew up in Volusia County and attended New Smyrna Beach High School, but moved to Lake County shortly before her death. According to a report from investigators, Kern, who was the supposed fiance of Garrett’s mother, was tasked with dropping Garrett off at Mount Dora High School the morning of April 14, 2018. When she didn’t come home the mother called the school and learned that Garrett wasn’t in class at all that day. After checking cellphone records, investigators found that Garrett’s phone traveled directly from her home in Sorrento to a wooded area off Gasline Road in DeLand; the same location where her remains would later be found. Kern’s cellphone records also mirrored those of Garrett’s, showing him traveling from Sorrento to DeLand. Kern’s original story to investigators was that he went to DeLand to work on a “catio”—a patio for cats—but also described a home in Daytona beach as his work location. He wasn’t able to provide any names, addresses, or contact information after supposedly dropping Garrett off at school like he initially claimed. Kern was later arrested in 2019 in New York on an unrelated fraud charge. It was during that investigation that Kern agreed to answer additional questions about Garrett’s death. By that time, Garrett’s cause of death had already been determined to be homicide by undetermined means. He questioned the credibility of the new information brought against him and couldn’t provide any account as to where he was the day Garrett was found dead. Following his arrest, Kern was charged with second-degree murder. That charge was later upgraded to first-degree murder by a Volusia County Grand Jury. Court records show Kern is set to go before a judge on March 29 for a pre-trial hearing. If it’s not continued, his trial date is set for April 18, exactly four years after Garrett was found dead.