ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WESH) — Authorities in Orange County say a 16-year-old girl has admitted to shooting and killing a 15-year-old girl and then working with a 22-year-old man to dump her body near a busy county road.

The teenager’s body was found Tuesday on the side of Ziegler Road near Orange Blossom Trail.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said a Crimeline tip led deputies to Ramsys Cruz, 22.

Deputies said Cruz was arrested Thursday morning leaving a home in a black Acura with a bullet hole in the windshield and handgun in the car.

Cruz told investigators that he and a 16-year-old girl were in the car with the victim when the shooting occurred, deputies said.

Detectives then located the 16-year-old girl, who they say admitted to firing the gun.

At this time, the 16-year-old girl is being held by deputies, but has not been charged, Demings said.

Nobody else is being sought in the case, Demings said.

The victim has been identified as Melanie Mesen Medina.

WESH 2 News learned a parent or legal guardian withdrew Mesen Medina from Corner Lake Middle School last week. It’s unknown why she left and did not re-enroll in another Orange County public school.

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ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WESH)  — Grief counselors will be at an Orange County school on Thursday after a 15-year-old student was found murdered near a busy road.

The teenage girl’s body was found on the side of Ziegler Road near Orange Blossom Trail.

Deputies are searching for her killer while the Corner Lake Middle School community is coping with an unexpected tragedy.

Grief counselors spent Wednesday on campus after faculty and students learned Melanie Mesen Medina, 15, was killed.

Tuesday morning, a passerby saw what appeared to be a body dumped on Ziegler Road. It’s a secluded area without a street light, and more than 25 miles from where the former eighth-grader attended school.

“She lived in the northwest part of the county. This happened in the southwest part of the county,” said Jane Watrel, of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

As deputies arrived at the scene, they spotted Mesen Medina fully clothed, lying dead on the side of the street.

Investigators found trauma to her body, triggering a homicide investigation.

“A 15-year-old is just practically unheard of,” Watrel said. “Sheriff Demings has authorized our homicide unit to use anything they can, authorized any sort of spending to try and solve this homicide.”

A parent or legal guardian withdrew Mesen Medina from Corner Lake Middle School last week. It’s unknown why she left and did not re-enroll in another Orange County public school.

Nearly 48 hours into the investigation, detectives don’t have a suspect in custody, but they believe someone knows who killed Mesen Medina.

“We want to focus on finding out who did this. This is basically a child, and we don’t want a killer or killers on the street,” Watrel said.

Detectives said they are not ruling anything out regarding how Mesen Medina was killed.

Grief counselors will be back at Corner Lake Middle School on Thursday as people there continue to cope with the loss of one of their own.STORIES THAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON

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