POINCIANA, Fla. -- A teenager was arrested in Osceola County and charged with raping and killing a 99-year-old woman inside a Poinciana home.

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Detectives said they believe Edith Mecalla, who was a mother of 11 and a grandmother of 50, was targeted by Moise O. Opont, 17, at her home.

Opont raped and murdered her Sunday before the victim's granddaughter spotted him and he ran out the home's back door, investigators said.

Opont was charged Thursday.

The boy's father, Rev. Richard Opont, spoke with Local 6 about the incident.

"My defense is in God's hands," Opont said. "Every day, I teach my family the same thing."

"We expect people to die," the victim's granddaughter, Michelle Smith, said on Wednesday. "It is a part of life. But to go in this violent manner at this stage in your life, that is the part that hurts the most. She is 99 years old. You could see she is old and lying there. Why would you do this?"

Police did not give a cause of death in the case.

Neighbors said they are afraid for their lives after the crime.

"You just don't feel safe out here," neighbor Karen Montefusco said. "I don't know anybody who feels safe out here."

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.