SALT LAKE CITY — The father of a 6-year-old West Jordan girl who police say was raped and killed said that he holds no grudge against the family of the suspect.
Brad Newbold also said Wednesday that the arrest of a neighbor in the case brings a small measure of closure for his family.
Terry Lee Black was charged Tuesday with aggravated murder, kidnapping and rape of a child. Sierra Newbold's body was found June 26 floating in a canal near her home.
Black, 41, attended the same Mormon church as the Newbold family and was tied to the killing by DNA after being arrested three days later for robbing a nearby bank, authorities said.
"We offer our sympathy to the Black family during this sad time since they, too, are grieving a loss," Brad Newbold said in a statement released Wednesday. "We want everyone to plainly understand that we hold no animosity in our hearts toward Terry Black's wife and children. We fully recognize that they played no part in this tragedy, and hope that the community and media will be sensitive to their pain and gentle in their treatment of them."
Although the Black family attended the same church as the Newbold family, police said it took a while for the victim's parents to recognize Terry Black's photo.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the child's mother last saw Sierra at about 10:30 p.m. the night before her body was found. On the morning of June 26, the woman told police she noticed a sliding glass door in the family's home was open and the girl wasn't in her bed.
Police later examined a home surveillance camera and found it showed a man entering the Newbold home at 3:05 a.m. and leaving eight minutes later.
Authorities mounted a search that morning and found the girl's pink pajamas and undergarments in a field a short distance away from the home, according to court documents.
Her body was then found floating face down in a nearby canal. An autopsy revealed the girl was sexually assaulted and strangled but the official cause of death was drowning.
Black was arrested on June 29 after robbing a Wells Fargo bank, authorities said.
West Jordan Police Chief Douglas Diamond said Black had stolen a car earlier in the day and drove it to the bank. When Black left the bank after the robbery, he attempted to get into the stolen car, but he was confronted by a friend of the vehicle's owner who was at the bank on business, Diamond said.
Black then fled on foot and was arrested nearby, Diamond said.
Brad Newbold praised police detectives for connecting the dots and arresting Black.
Diamond said alert police officers who responded to the bank robbery noticed Black lived in an apartment near the canal where the young girl's body was found. They also saw Black had debris on his clothing and knees consistent in appearance with debris in the blackened field where the child's clothing was discovered.
Diamond called Black's arrest "divine intervention."
The Newbold family was still trying to deal with the latest developments.
"We anticipate it will take us a very long time to fully come to terms with what has occurred," Brad Newbold said.
He said the family will continue to decline all interview requests as it grieves in private.
Black remained held Wednesday on $2 million bond. Messages left at his home by the Associated Press were not answered Wednesday.
His initial appearance on the robbery and vehicle theft charge is set for Thursday. He will make his initial appearance on the murder and rape charges Friday in Salt Lake City.