A Florida judge says a kidnapping and robbery plot was carried out in retaliation for a theft from an Airbnb rented by Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold, according to a court order granting pretrial detention for one of the defendants.
In a seven-page order filed Feb. 24 in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, Circuit Judge J. Logan Murphy detailed allegations that stem from the reported burglary of an Airbnb in Largo rented by Arnold.
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The order, entered in State of Florida v. Boakai Eugene Hilton, grants the state’s motion for pretrial detention on three charges of kidnapping to harm or terrorize and three charges of robbery with a firearm, each a first-degree felony punishable by life in prison under Florida law.
Citing evidence presented at a Feb. 24 hearing, Murphy wrote that Arnold had hired Yan Lopez as a private driver to transport him and friends to and from the Airbnb. During that time, the rental was robbed twice, with items including designer bags, $100,000 in cash, an $80,000 necklace and a cell phone issued to Arnold by the NFL reported stolen.
According to the order, Arnold began to suspect Lopez may have been involved in the burglaries. Although the theft was reported to Largo authorities, Murphy wrote that Arnold and his friends “decided to take matters into their own hands.”
The judge said text messages and victim statements show that co-defendant Jasmine Randazzo lured Daniel Tenesaca to her apartment after he expressed romantic interest in her. Murphy wrote that Arianna Del Valle, identified in the order as Arnold’s girlfriend, instructed Randazzo to act as “bait,” with promises of payment from Arnold and his friends.
When Tenesaca arrived at the apartment with Soljah Anderson, Murphy wrote, Lyndell Hudson and Christion Williams confronted them in a bedroom closet while armed with a rifle and a handgun. The victims were held in a bedroom for about an hour, interrogated, beaten and pistol-whipped, according to the order.
Lopez, who had been waiting in a car, later entered the apartment and was pistol-whipped and taken to the bedroom, Murphy wrote. One co-defendant placed the barrel of a firearm in Lopez’s mouth while demanding the return of the stolen property and Arnold’s phone, the judge said. Before the victims were released, their phones and wallets were taken. The order states there is no evidence the victims were involved in the Airbnb theft.
Murphy wrote that Hilton appeared to orchestrate the attack through text messages and a group chat, asking whether a co-defendant had a gun and instructing Del Valle to video the encounter on FaceTime so he could see and hear what was happening. Text messages showed instructions to seize the victims’ phones and keep them in a bedroom corner until “terrion [a]nd Boakai [Hilton] and Fredo” arrived at the apartment complex, according to the order.
The judge wrote that Hilton later arrived at the apartment and was identified by one of the victims as they were escorted out.
“From the evidence presented at the pretrial detention hearing — none of which was contradicted and all of which is consistent across the text messages and the victims’ accounts — it appears Hilton orchestrated the kidnapping, beating, and robbery of three victims in retribution for their perceived theft of property from Arnold’s AirBNB,” Murphy wrote.
The judge found the state met its burden of showing a “substantial probability” that Hilton committed the charged offenses as a principal under Florida law.
Murphy also found that no conditions of release or bail would reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm or assure the integrity of the judicial process. He cited “the consistent accounts from the three victims and the two text message chains introduced into evidence,” calling the weight of the evidence “overwhelming.”
Given that Hilton knows the victims and that others who have not been arrested were likely involved, Murphy wrote that the risk of harm or intimidation to victims and witnesses is high. He also cited a “high likelihood” Hilton would attempt to coordinate with co-defendants or others to hamper the investigation or destroy evidence if released.
“Rather than allowing law enforcement to investigate and retrieve the stolen property, the co-defendants sought vigilante justice by kidnapping the victims for over an hour, interrogating them, beating them, and threatening them with a gun barrel in the mouth,” Murphy wrote.
The order grants the state’s motion for pretrial detention on all six charges and directs that Hilton have no contact with the alleged victims, witnesses or co-defendants, and that he be kept separate from co-defendants while in jail. The order is dated Feb. 24, 2026, and signed by Murphy in the 13th Judicial Circuit.
Arnold has not been charged with a crime in connection to the case.
Arnold, 22, was drafted by the Lions in the first round of the 2024 draft, and is considered one of their top cornerbacks heading into the 2026 season.
Local 4 has reached out to the Detroit Lions for comment.