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Weeks after a Michigan teenager was reported missing, her body was found in a plastic bin, and her 23-year-old boyfriend is facing a murder charge. Authorities believe he didn’t act alone, but had the help of someone close to him who they say masterminded a chilling cover-up.
London Thomas, 17, was dropped off at her boyfriend’s house on April 5 around 4 a.m in Inkster, a city about 20 miles west of Detroit. That was the last time she was seen alive. Her mom reported her missing the next day and weeks later on April 26, her body was found in a plastic bin in a car 17 miles north of Inkster in Southfield.
Jalen Pendergrass, per local news station Fox 2, was initially a person of interest when Thomas disappeared and he wasn’t charged— until now. Not only has Pendergrass, 23, been slapped with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence charges, but his own mother, Charla Pendergrass has also been hit with the same charges.
She’s accused of masterminding a “campaign to lie” to cover-up the alleged murder after authorities received one tip from her own friend who called the police.
Said friend of the 49-year-old alleged that on April 6, Charla called and asked him to transport a sealed plastic bin. That friend, who says he didn’t know what was inside the bin, agreed, according to the outlet, and moved the bin to a home on Millard Street in Southfield before placing it inside a parked SUV in the home’s driveway on April 11. Prosecutors say that same bin contained Thomas’ body and had been left there for two weeks.
An autopsy ruled the teen’s death a homicide after determining she died from asphyxia, CBS News reported.
But that’s not all.
Prosecutors claim Charla showed a “willingness to be deceptive” during her Wayne County arraignment. She allegedly told an investigator that she saw Thomas leave the home on April 5— what authorities said was a flat-out lie, especially with the help of phone records and video.
“This is a case where I believe the evidence will be abundant that both defendants, but particularly Ms. Charla Pendergrass, engaged in an extended campaign to lie to police, lie to law enforcement to cover up her actions,” prosecutors claimed, per reports.
Charla was first charged with lying to a peace officer in a violent crime investigation in May. But thanks to a loophole, those charges were dropped in August after prosecutors noted that Pendergrass allegedly lied to FBI agents who aren’t technically “peace officers” per Michigan statute, so the charges were dropped.
The mother and son plead not guilty and their next court date is Oct. 22 for their probable cause conference.
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