A teenage girl has been beaten and strangled to death by her mother's black former boyfriend before being thrown into a dumpster

The body of Jessica Tetter, 16, was found in Hammond, Indiana, the day after disappearing from her Illinois home. Detectives have charged 27-year-old African-American John Hurt with first-degree murder and concealment of a homicide. Tetter's mother said that her daughter had stepped in during a row between the couple, who were said to have an "on again, off again" relationship. When Tetter's mother returned later that day, Hurt said that her daughter had left the house and not come back and refused to help look for the teenager. A couple of days later, he walked into the Calumet City Police Department and told a witness that his daughter tried to fight him and he had killed her. He admitted to choking her and hauling her body to Hammond. An autopsy by the Lake County Coroner’s Office ruled that she had died of trauma to the head and body. Hurt's bond has been set at $1 million by Judge Israel Desierto when he appeared at Cook County Bond Court.