Lauderhill 32-year-old James Ayers has been officially charged with first-degree murder in the March death of 19-year-old Juliana Mensch, according to court documents. He will be arraigned at 8 a.m. April 30 in room 5780 of the Broward County Courthouse.
Police say Ayers used a stolen car to visit a friend at work late last month, where he "went into great detail as to how he strangled 'Julie' and left her body in a room." He then reportedly visited his old drug counselor at West Broward Care Center and told him the same thing. That's when police showed up and arrested him.
After finding a Fort Lauderdale landlord's number in Ayers' phone, police tracked down a room he was renting on the 1100 block of NW Seventh Terrace, where they discovered Mensch's decomposing body.
First-degree murder in Florida is punishable by death -- four murderers have been put to death since Gov. Rick Scott took office, most recently serial killer David Alan Gore on April 12.
While police at the time declined to comment on whether there were more suspects in the ongoing investigation, more information will almost certainly become available next Monday.
