A Thanksgiving text message led Miami police to a trafficking victim — then an arrest

Grethel Aguila
·2 min read

A 21-year-old woman — lured from Arkansas — was rescued by Miami police after she sent her father a distressing text message on Thanksgiving. Days later, a South Florida man was arrested for trafficking her.

Kyron Lajon Richardson was charged with two counts of human trafficking in addition to one count of unlawful use of a communication device and financially benefiting from prostitution after his Nov. 29 arrest.

READ MORE: A Broward man trafficked underage girls, and he has received his prison sentence

Richardson, a 29-year-old who has previous addresses listed in Arkansas, recruited the victim from her Little Rock home through social media, according to the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. Police believe that Richardson groomed the woman through their conversations, with him swaying her to move to Miami because she was too beautiful to stay in Arkansas.

He then purchased the victim a one-way ticket to Miami and took her to a house where three other women lived.

But those stipulations came with a caveat: She would have to sell her body.

Inside the home, she saw Richardson’s violent side. She also feared for her life when she noticed he owned a rifle. If she refused to go on dates and strip or hand over her money, he could kill her.

Desperate to escape, she crafted a Thanksgiving text message to her father, letting him know where she was and that she was in danger. Her father subsequently called City of Miami police — a move that led to her rescue and Richardson’s arrest by the State Attorney’s Office Human Trafficking Task Force.

Richardson had $18,000 in cash at the time of his arrest. After a search warrant, police found two firearms, a rifle and a handgun.

Richardson is being held at the Metrowest Detention Center in Doral with his bond set at $30,500.

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