Teen murder suspect back in Florida

A 15 year old Putnam County teenager charged in a Melrose murder has been returned to Florida.

Morgan Amanda Leppert was booked into the Putnam County Jail at 6:30 a.m. Friday and was making her first court appearance at 8:30 a.m. on the murder charge. The hearing was closed to the media because Leppert is a minor, according to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office.

Leppert and her 22-year-old boyfriend, Toby Lee Lowry, both of Putnam County, were found panhandling in El Paso, Texas on May 3. They were both charged with murder for the death of James Thomas Stewart, 66, of Melrose.

Stewart was found beaten, stabbed and dead of suffocation inside his home on May 1. Investigators said it Stewart was likely killed April 25 and was apparently a random victim.

A nationwide Amber Alert had been issued for Leppert. A motorist spotted her panhandling with Lowry and another man — apparently unrelated to the Florida murder — along an Interstate 10 on ramp on May 4.

Investigators said Leppert was returned to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice following her Friday morning court appearance.