By CESAR JOLITO III

Police have arrested a 41-year-old neighbor tagged as the primary suspect in the killing of a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a sugarcane field in Negros Occidental’s Candoni town.

Candoni police chief Police Captain Leonel Adolacion said the suspect, identified only by the alias “Kadong,” allegedly confessed to the crime during investigation.

His real name has not been disclosed as authorities continue to gather additional evidence.

“Kadong” was the neighbor of Rica Grace Simple in Purok Pag-ulinganan, Barangay Haba.

He was taken into custody on May 1 on charges of illegal possession of firearms, police said.

Based on the suspect’s statement, the girl reportedly rode with him on his motorcycle to buy a drink from a nearby store.

However, he diverted to a secluded area where he allegedly attempted to sexually assault her.

When the victim refused and threatened to inform her father, the suspect claimed he strangled her until she lost consciousness, struck her head with a rock, and abandoned her body in the sugarcane field.

The suspect denied raping the victim, but police said this will be verified through medico-legal examination.

The victim was discovered lifeless in a sugarcane field in Barangay Poblacion West’s Sitio Lawagon past 8:00 p.m. on April 27, a day after she was reported missing.

Rica’s mother, Ana Simple, earlier recounted that she had sent her daughter to buy ice on the evening of April 26, but the girl failed to return home.

Her bloodied body was found the following night with a visible head wound./CJ, WDJ