A young man from Michigan, aged 23, along with his mother, is facing charges for the murder of his girlfriend, whose body was discovered in a container inside an SUV.
Jalen Pendergrass and his 49-year-old mother, Charla Pendergrass, have both been accused of second-degree murder following the death of 17-year-old London Thomas. Her body was located in Southfield, three weeks after she was reported missing by her family, according to a report from the Detroit News.
Authorities in Inkster stated that Thomas was last seen on April 5 at Jalen Pendergrass’s residence on Carlysle Street, near Inkster Road, as detailed by CrimeOnline. The police, with assistance from the FBI, conducted a search at the property.
Thomas’s body was eventually discovered in a plastic bin within an SUV, following a tip from a friend of Charla Pendergrass. This friend revealed that she had asked him on April 7 to “transport a sealed plastic bin with unknown contents,” as per the prosecutors’ statement reported by the News.
The prosecutors further noted, “He received and placed the bin in an SUV on Millard Street in Southfield on April 11.”
On April 26, the police executed a search and found Thomas’s body. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be asphyxia, classifying it as a homicide.
“The evidence shows that Defendants Jaylen and Charla Pendergrass allegedly committed the homicide of Ms. London Thomas,” the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said. “The extensive facts and evidence will be presented in court at the preliminary examination.”
Mother and son are set to be arraigned on Friday.
