The man who murdered an 18-year-old Lake City teen in 2023 was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday.

According to a Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) release, Third Judicial Circuit Judge Melissa Olin found John Leonard Bowen Jr., 49, guilty of second-degree murder of Coyoete Kathren Cheyenne Turner and sentenced him to life in prison. Bowen also pleaded to a secondary charge was for tampering with evidence, and he was sentenced to an additional 23.1 years in prison, to be served consecutively.

The incident occurred on Sept. 3, 2023, when CCSO deputies investigated a possible homicide of a female who was found in a field at 981 SW Haltiwanger Rd. in Lake City. The remains, which were partially burned, were later identified as those of Turner.

CCSO investigated numerous persons of interest and started looking at Bowen in mid-September 2023 as the potential suspect in the murder of Turner due to inconsistencies with his whereabouts during the time frame of the homicide, along with numerous items of electronic and physical evidence.

Bowen, a registered sex offender who was already being held in the Columbia County Detention Facility on unrelated charges associated with violating his sex offender registration, was arrested and charged with the murder of Turner.

In the CCSO release, the office stated, “Through the combined efforts of the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office Patrol and Criminal Investigations Divisions, and assistance from the Third Judicial Circuit State Attorney Investigator, Florida Highway Patrol, Medical Examiner’s Office of Jacksonville, State of Florida Fire Marshal’s Office, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, this case was brought to a successful resolution through the criminal justice process with a murderer in prison for his crimes against this young woman.”