16 and 23-year-old suspects charged in beating, burning of Melvindale woman

Two suspects have been charged in the murder of Amanda Lynn Benton.

Benton, 29, of Melvindale, was a mother of three and five months pregnant with her first girl when she went missing in southwest Detroit. Her body was found last Friday in an abandoned home, discovered to be beaten and burned

On Wednesday Jacob Barnes, 23, of Lincoln Park and Jeremy Lee, 16, of Detroit were charged for the murder of Benton. Although a teenager, Lee will be charged as an adult offender.

It is alleged that on September 26, 2016 at approximately 3:30 a.m., Barnes and a 16-year-old fatally assaulted  Ms. Benton at Woodmere and Cabot in Detroit.  She was approximately five months pregnant and beaten in the head, neck and abdomen.  It is further alleged that the defendants placed her in the trunk of her car and drove her to an abandoned house in the 8000 block of Vanderbilt in Detroit where they set her body on fire. The defendants drove off in her car and abandoned it in Southwest Detroit.  

On September 30, 2016, an investigation by the Detroit Police Department led to the arrest of Jacob Barnes and the 16-year-old juvenile Detroit male in connection with the homicide of Ms. Benton. 

Both defendants have been charged with Felony Murder, First Degree Murder, Assault of a Pregnant Individual Causing Death of a Fetus and Mutilation of a Dead Body.  They are expected to be arraigned in 36th District Court on Thursday, October  6 , 2016 at 10:30 a.m.