Shaniesha Forbes Update: Christian Ferdinand, Maine man, charged in death of NYC teen found on beach
(CBS/AP) NEW YORK - The NYPD has arrested a man in connection with the death of a 14-year-old girl found charred and naked on a Brooklyn beach.
Christian Ferdinand, 20, of Limestone, Maine, was arrested Thursday on a second-degree murder charge.
The medical examiner had determined that Shaniesha Forbes died of "homicidal asphyxiation," which includes suffocation and smothering.
According to CBS New York, the examiner also said burned clothes, believed to belong to Forbes, were found nearby.
The Brooklyn girl's body was discovered on Gerritsen Beach on Jan. 6. She disappeared two days before her body was found.
Investigators said Ferdinand and Forbes knew each other, but details on their relationship were not released, the station reports.
Forbes was a freshman at the Academy for Young Writers in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. According to CBS New York, she lived with her mother and three siblings.
Information on Ferdinand's lawyer wasn't immediately available.
