Left inset: Angel Thompson (Troup County Sheriff’s Office). Right inset: Nicole Alston (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office/WAGA). Background: The corner of Whitfield Road and Stitcher Road in Hogansville, Ga., where Angel Thompson allegedly disposed of and set Nicole Alston’s body on fire (Google Maps).
A woman in Georgia has been taken into custody for the alleged murder of her girlfriend, whom she allegedly dismembered into 13 “pieces,” concealing the hands, feet, and head, while incinerating the rest on a street corner. This incident reportedly occurred after the victim intended to leave the relationship, according to prosecutors.
“This case involves truly horrific facts,” stated Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during a press conference on Wednesday. She announced the arrest of Angel Thompson, nearly a decade after the murder of 24-year-old Nicole Alston remained unsolved.
On December 6, 2007, deputies from the Troup County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report regarding a suspicious burning black bag at the corner of Whitfield Road and Stitcher Road in Hogansville. Alston’s torso along with other body parts were discovered inside the bag.
“When they found her body, it was cut,” Willis said.
“They discovered 13 parts of her body; however, identification was impossible,” she shared with reporters, adding, “The identification issue stemmed from the fact that, to this date, we have yet to recover her hands, feet, or head.”
The case underwent a review by local authorities in 2023, and DNA samples were sent to Innovative Forensic Investigations in Virginia and Gene by Gene Laboratories in Texas for testing. Following the analysis, the results were relayed to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) crime lab, and by December 13, 2023, it was confirmed that the remains were Alston’s. She had relocated to Georgia from Manhattan, New York, “to begin her life,” as mentioned by Willis and Alston’s mother, Sylvia Austin.
“She came to Georgia with this person who told her she was going to help her,” Austin said during Wednesday’s presser. “Nicole said, ‘She’s going to help me. I’m going to be okay.'”
Alston was ultimately identified through an Ancestry.com search conducted by Austin’s sister, according to Willis. Thompson was arrested and charged with concealing Alston’s death in August 2023, but not for murder. It’s unclear what led to her being charged this week, with officials only revealing a paper trail that showed how Thompson allegedly stole Alston’s identity.
Police say that prior to Alston’s disappearance, she and Thompson were living together at 9100 Cascade Palmetto Highway. Things began to sour between the two of them, according to Austin and Willis, with Alston — who was allegedly the main provider in the relationship — telling her mom that Thompson had become “abusive” toward her.
“She wanted to come home … but said she had it under control,” Willis told reporters. “That was her last phone call.”
Thompson, who is facing one count of malice murder and two counts of identity theft, allegedly killed Alston in a manner described as “homicidal violence by undetermined means,” according to local officials. She had outstanding warrants in New York at the time and was allegedly worried about moving back there, per Willis, on top of possibly losing her main source of income — Alston.
“This involves classic domestic violence, where the young lady was basically not going to allow both her lover — and I hate to say such a nasty term — but really ‘cash cow,’ the person that was bringing her money, to go,” Willis said. “And it ended tragically.”
Less than a month after killing Alston, Thompson allegedly began using her identity and tried selling her car, according to cops. She even rented out her apartment, according to a police official who spoke at Wednesday’s press conference.
“It’s beyond the pale of what it took to do this,” the official said. “It took a true sociopath.”
A Fulton County detective who spoke at the presser told reporters that after Alston’s body was found, Thompson was “already on dating websites, trying to meet people, rent the room, sell the car.” She allegedly opened email accounts and bank accounts in her name and also communicated with government agencies to steal her benefits.
“She did it very well and I believe did it alone,” the detective said. “Which is why it took so long to get where we are.”
Thompson is accused of raking in nearly $140,000 using Alston’s identity. This includes over $60,000 in social security, $17,000 in food stamps, and approximately $60,000 in HUD housing assistance. The fraud allegedly continued from the end of 2007 until Alston’s benefits stopped in March 2015 — a total of eight years.
“Immediately after this young lady went missing and we now know is deceased, the suspect was trying to recruit other victims,” Willis said. “We believe this ties directly to trafficking other women.”
Willis told reporters Wednesday that in her 29 years of being involved in criminal law, she has never had a slaying like this come across her desk before.
“This is by far one of the top three most gruesome cases,” she concluded. “As her mother said, Nicole was taken advantage of … And she did not deserve this.”
