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Mother, son charged in murder of Inkster teenager
The ex-boyfriend of London Thomas and his mother were both charged with the teenagers murder on Thursday.
INKSTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two people, including the teen's boyfriend, are facing murder charges stemming from the death of London Thomas.
Jalen Pendergrass, 23, and Charla Pendergrass, 49,were arrested this week and charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Jalen Pendergrass was initially considered a person of interest in 17-year-old Thomas' disappearance and murder but was never charged, while his mom previously faced charges that were dropped.
The backstory:
Thomas was last seen on April 5 when her sister dropped her off at her 23-year-old boyfriend's Inkster home. On April 26, her body was found in Southfield.
After Thomas' body was discovered, the boyfriend's mother, Pendergrass, 48, was arrested and charged with lying to a peace officer. Charla Pendergrass allegedly told an investigator that she saw Thomas leave the Inkster home where she was last seen on April 5, a fact that authorities say was a lie.
London Thomas murder: Charges dismissed against boyfriend's mother
A woman accused of lying to police after her son's girlfriend, 17-year-old London Thomas, had charges dismissed.
Authorities say phone records and video confirm that she lied to investigators.
Despite this, the lying to a peace officer charge was dropped during Charla Pendergrass' preliminary examination because the person she allegedly lied to was a federal agent. According to the prosecution, a federal agent does not meet the definition of a "peace officer" under Michigan statute, so the case could not proceed.
Dig deeper:
According to a press release from the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, evidence allegedly shows that Jalen and Charla Pendergrass killed Thomas. Kym Worthy said that a friend of Charla Pendergrass called police and provided this information.
That friend said that on April 6, Charla Pendergrass called him and asked him to help transport a sealed plastic bin with unknown contents. The friend told police that he agreed, and moved the bin to a home on Millard Street in Southfield and put the bin in an SUV on April 11. Weeks later, that same bin, which contained Thomas' body, was found in an SUV at the Southfield house, the prosecutor said.
An autopsy determined that Thomas died from asphyxia.
"I am proud of the excellent work that has been done in this case. It has taken countless hours of investigation, and diligent work by the Michigan State Police, the Detroit Police Department, and the FBI. As a result of that work, we have been able to charge and bring the perpetrators of this cruel and deadly crime to justice," Worthy said.
What's next:
The suspects are expected to be arraigned Friday morning.
The Source: Information from previous stories and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office were used.
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