Newly released documents from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office detail the evidence and events leading up to the murder of UF student Saleha Huuda and Wednesday’s arrests of Antonio Drayton and Cassandra Kimbrough.
Drayton, 24, is charged with first-degree murder. Kimbrough, 42, is charged as his accomplice.
Firefighters discovered Huuda’s body Dec. 30 after extinguishing a small brushfire off County Road 225.
On Dec. 29, Huuda had exchanged text messages with Drayton about going over to his apartment located in Pine Rush Villas off Southwest 20th Avenue.
When Huuda did not respond to Drayton’s texts, he believed she was with someone else.
At 6 p.m. Dec. 29, Huuda stopped at her parent’s house to pick up an insurance card.
It was the last time she was seen alive.
Drayton next appeared at his brother’s house in Starke around 11 p.m. to ask for money. His brother said Drayton was “anxious,” according to the report.
Another witness saw a car that looked like Huuda’s leaving the property. The witness said the car had a cheerleading sticker on the back.
Cell phone records show both Drayton’s and Kimbrough’s phones were connecting with a cell phone tower in Starke.
Surveillance cameras at a Starke gas station show a woman resembling Kimbrough buying $2 worth of gas. She was shown moving to and from Huuda’s car.
After searching Huuda’s car later, detectives noticed a strong odor of gasoline coming from the back seat and floorboard.
Around 1:45 a.m. Dec. 30, one witness attempted to call Huuda’s cell phone. It went straight to voicemail.
After a second call, a woman answered and said Huuda was sleeping and that she would call him back tomorrow.
Around 2:15 a.m., a witness traveling to work saw a four-door Nissan parked in a ditch near where Huuda’s body was discovered.
Also around that time, Drayton’s cell phone was connecting with a tower that placed him at the location where Huuda’s body was discovered.
At 2:41 a.m., firefighters responded to the fire and found the body wrapped in a comforter.
After authorities located Huuda’s car, they were able to find pillow cases that matched the pattern of the comforter that she was wrapped in. Huuda’s purse was found in the backseat.
Kimbrough signed a sworn statement stating she was with Drayton at the time of Huuda’s death. She also said she had no involvement in or knowledge of Huuda’s death.
On Jan. 24, Kimbrough changed her legal name and acquired a new driver’s license with a different date of birth, an incomplete address and a 6-inch difference in height.
On Feb. 2, it was found that a napkin found near the site of Huuda’s burned body contained Drayton’s DNA.
That day, the medical examiner reported that Huuda was murdered, but that it is still unclear how.
