APOPKA, Fla. — The estranged husband of a Florida mother who was found dead in a storage unit last month has been formally charged with murder.
A news release from prosecutors out of Orange County explains Cory Hill is facing charges for the murder of Shakeira Rucker.
"The Office of the State Attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit has formally filed charges against Cory Hill for the murder of Shakeira Rucker," prosecutors said in a statement. "Hill remains in jail under a no bond status stemming from his November arrest of Attempted Second Degree Murder and other charges against his ex-girlfriend and her family."
He's now facing an additional charge of second-degree murder. An ongoing investigation has the potential for a first-degree murder indictment in Rucker's death.
"Due to procedural rules, the State is limited to filing a Second Degree Murder charge by Information prior to presenting the case to the Orange County Grand Jury," prosecutors explain in the release.
Rucker was first reported missing out of Winter Springs after she was last seen on Saturday, Nov. 11, WKMG reports. Law enforcement has been searching for her ever since.
After finishing up a search in the area near an airfield in Mount Dora on Saturday, Nov. 18, deputies were called out to a storage unit in Apopka on reports of an alleged smell coming from inside one of the units.
Once deputies were able to open the storage unit, they found the body of a woman believed to be Rucker. Mina says she died from apparent gunshot wounds.
"We just want to extend our deepest condolences to Shakeira's family," Mina said during a news conference. "My heart breaks, I can't imagine the pain and suffering that they have been enduring this past week."
According to Mina, the storage unit where Rucker was found was registered to Hill, who was named a person of interest earlier in the week. WKMG reports Winter Springs police got security video from Polk County that showed Hill and Rucker together on the day she was last seen.
CNN reports Rucker's family said she left her home for "an unknown destination," possibly with Hill.
"The storage unit was registered to him, he had to have known we would eventually find her in there," the sheriff said. "So it's very, very disappointing."