A mother and son stand accused of murdering his 17-year-old girlfriend, then hiding her body in a sealed plastic bin for three weeks.
February 2026 | Justice Is A Process
Sometime around 4 a.m. on April 5, 2025, Jaila Hatcher dropped her younger sister off at a house on Carlysle Street in Inkster, Michigan. London Thomas was 17 years old. She was going to see her boyfriend.
That was the last time anyone in London's family saw her alive.
Hours passed. Then a day. London wasn't answering her phone. For a girl who called her family constantly, who never let her phone die, who checked in with her sisters like clockwork, this was wrong. Her sister knew it. Her mother knew it. Her father knew it. They all knew it.
By April 6, London's mother Jasma Bennett filed a missing person report with Detroit police. Her phone had pinged in Westland, near an elementary school, the morning after she was dropped off. Then nothing. No calls. No texts. No social media activity. Just silence from a teenager who never went silent.
The family organized search parties. Community members walked through woods and wetlands in Wayne County, handing out flyers, calling her name. Her father, Cedric Salisbury, told reporters that London was his best friend. Talented, down to earth, loved by everybody.
Three weeks later, on April 26, police found London Thomas. Her body was inside a sealed plastic storage bin, placed in the trunk of an SUV parked in a driveway on Millard Street in Southfield. She had been there for over two weeks. The Oakland County Medical Examiner determined she died from asphyxia. Manner of death: homicide.
Today, London's ex-boyfriend, 24-year-old Jalen Pendergrass, and his mother, 49-year-old Charla Pendergrass, are charged with first-degree murder, felony murder, unlawful imprisonment, and tampering with evidence. If convicted, both face mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole.
This is not a simple case. The charges were upgraded. The initial charges were dropped and refiled. A key witness says she was told two different stories about what happened that night. The defense says the prosecution has been recycling the same weak evidence for months.
We are not here to convict anyone. We are not here to acquit anyone. We are here to watch whether the system does what it's supposed to do: prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt while protecting the constitutional rights of every person in that courtroom.
This is Justice Is A Process. Let's get into it.
According to prosecutors, London Thomas arrived at Jalen Pendergrass's home on the 27260 block of Carlysle Street near Inkster Road around 4 a.m. on April 5, 2025. Her sister Jaila Hatcher drove her there. Prosecutors say Jalen and London had been in a relationship, but that the relationship had ended by the time she showed up at the house that morning.
What allegedly happened inside that house is the center of this entire case.
During the January 2026 preliminary hearing, a witness named Lanyja Wilkerson, another former girlfriend of Jalen Pendergrass, took the stand and told the court that Jalen had confessed to her about the events of April 5. According to Wilkerson, he told her two different stories. In the first version, Jalen allegedly said that London and his mother, Charla, got into a physical fight at the house. After the fight, he said he beat London and tied her up.
Then came the part that changed the charges in this case.
Wilkerson testified that Jalen told her Charla instructed him to "get angry" and "to kill her." According to Wilkerson's testimony, Jalen said he pulled London from the bed, stood her up, grabbed a belt, and choked her until she fell. This testimony was the key factor in the judge's decision to upgrade the charges from second-degree to first-degree murder, because it allegedly showed premeditation and an active role by the mother.
Wilkerson also testified that after London disappeared, Jalen sent her specific song lyrics from rapper NBA YoungBoy. The lyrics described putting a woman's body in the trunk of a car so her family would never see her again. Prosecutors argued those lyrics eerily mirrored the actual circumstances of how London's body was found.
London's family didn't wait for the system to find her. They couldn't.
On April 5, the same day London was dropped off, her sister reported her missing to the Inkster Police Department. The next day, April 6, London's mother Jasma Bennett filed a missing person report with Detroit police after London didn't come home. London's phone had pinged near Cooper Upper Elementary School in Westland around 10 a.m. on April 6. After that, the phone went dark.
Her father Cedric Salisbury organized community search parties, starting at Cooper Upper Elementary, the last known location of London's phone signal. Dozens of people showed up. Family, friends, complete strangers. They walked through parks, woods, and wetlands looking for any trace of London.
A second search was organized on April 17. Crime Stoppers of Michigan offered a $2,500 reward for information on her disappearance. Meanwhile, Inkster police and the FBI had zeroed in on the Carlysle Street house. On or around April 17, authorities raided the home, searching for DNA evidence after receiving what Inkster Police Chief Tamika Jenkins described as "concerning information they found during phone extractions." Jalen Pendergrass was named a person of interest.
They found nothing at the house. Or at least nothing that was made public at that time.
London's mother told reporters that the silence was unbearable. London never went more than a day without talking to her sisters. This wasn't just out of character. It was a red alarm.
On April 26, 2025, three weeks after London vanished, Inkster police received a tip that broke the case open.
A male friend of Charla Pendergrass contacted police. According to prosecutors, this man told investigators that Charla had called him on April 7, just two days after London was last seen, and asked him to transport a sealed plastic bin with unknown contents. He agreed. He said he never opened it. He never asked what was inside.
On April 11, the man placed the bin inside an SUV at a home on Millard Street in Southfield, near Berg Road. It sat there for over two weeks.
Eventually, the man grew suspicious. He contacted police through a lawyer and told them where the bin was. Michigan State Police, along with the FBI and Detroit police, responded to the Millard Street address. Inside the SUV, inside the sealed plastic bin, they found London Thomas's body. According to testimony from the preliminary hearing, she was tied up and bruised.
The Oakland County Medical Examiner performed an autopsy and determined that London died from asphyxia. Her manner of death was ruled a homicide. Prosecutors also said that DNA evidence found on the handles of the bin was consistent with Jalen Pendergrass.
At the preliminary hearing, the same friend testified that Charla later asked him to dispose of the bin entirely. His testimony: "She told me to get rid of it, to burn it."
London Thomas was 17 years old. She was from Detroit, living on Margareta and Five Points streets. She was a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter. Her father, Cedric Salisbury, called her his best friend. Her grandmother, Jestina Martin, said London called her all the time just to say she loved her. Her stepfather, Darnell Johnson, talked about how hard it was to sit in the house and not picture her at the table or on the couch.
Her mother, Jasma Bennett, said it simply. She never thought she'd be burying her child.
London was described as talented, down to earth, someone everybody loved. She was the kind of teenager who didn't go silent. She called her sisters constantly. She checked in. She stayed connected. That's why her disappearance was so immediately alarming to everyone who knew her. This wasn't a girl who ghosted her family. Something was wrong from the first few hours of silence.
She was 17. She hadn't even started her life yet. Whatever happened inside that house on Carlysle Street, London Thomas deserved better than to be found in a plastic bin in the trunk of a stranger's SUV three weeks after she disappeared.
Jalen Pendergrass is 24 years old (he was 23 at the time of the alleged crime) and lived at the Carlysle Street home in Inkster where London was last seen. Prosecutors say he was London's boyfriend, though they also say the relationship had ended by the time she arrived at his house on April 5.
Jalen has not been convicted of any crime in this case. He is presumed innocent. His attorney, Adam Clements, has publicly stated that too many people have already arrived at a conclusion about his client's guilt, and has urged the public to let the evidence play itself out and respect the process.
Jalen was initially identified as a person of interest in London's disappearance but was not charged for months. He was later arrested in an unrelated case out of Oakland County for making a false report of a felony. While out on bond for that charge, he was reportedly arrested for driving under the influence, though he was not formally charged for it. When the murder charges came in October 2025, the judge denied him bond, citing both the severity of the charges and his pending case in Oakland County.
Charla Rashida Pendergrass is 49 years old. She lived in Clawson, Michigan, but was connected to the Carlysle Street home in Inkster where London was last seen.
Charla Pendergrass has not been convicted of any crime in this case. She is presumed innocent. Her attorney, Terry L. Johnson, has been vocal about what he sees as a weak prosecution, pointing out that previous charges against his client were dismissed twice in different courts. After the arraignment, Johnson told reporters that the case sounded like the same recycled evidence from April, and that he doesn't believe the prosecution can prove anything now.
Charla was first arrested in May 2025 on a charge of lying to a peace officer during a violent crime investigation. Prosecutors alleged she told an FBI agent that she saw London leave the Inkster home alive on April 5, a claim authorities say was a lie. Those charges were later dismissed in August, and here's where it gets legally interesting: the charge was dropped because the person she allegedly lied to was a federal agent. Under Michigan statute, an FBI agent does not meet the legal definition of a "peace officer." The case could not proceed on those grounds.
She was arrested again in October 2025 and charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Her bond was set at $5 million cash. The judge ordered GPS monitoring, no weapons, no alcohol, and no leaving Michigan.
The prosecution is led by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, with Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dominic Degrazia handling the case in court. The investigation involved a multi-agency effort including the Inkster Police Department, Detroit Police Department, Michigan State Police, and the FBI. Inkster Police Chief Tamika Jenkins was involved in the early stages of the investigation.
The preliminary hearing was overseen by Judge Sabrina Johnson at the 22nd District Court in Inkster. The case has been bound over for trial in Wayne County Circuit Court.
Jalen Pendergrass is represented by attorney Adam Clements. Charla Pendergrass is represented by attorney Terry L. Johnson.
Both Jalen and Charla Pendergrass face the same four charges. The charges were originally filed as second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in October 2025, then upgraded to first-degree murder with additional counts after the January 2026 preliminary hearing. That upgrade matters enormously, because it changes what the prosecution has to prove and what sentence the defendants face if convicted.
What it means in plain English: The State alleges that Jalen and Charla Pendergrass intentionally killed London Thomas, and that the killing was planned and deliberate, not spontaneous.
What the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: That London Thomas is dead. That the defendants caused her death. That the killing was intentional. That there was premeditation, meaning the defendants thought about and planned the act before carrying it out. Under Michigan law, premeditation doesn't require extensive advance planning. Even a brief period of deliberation can be enough. But the State still has to prove it happened.
Potential sentence if convicted: Mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Michigan does not have the death penalty.
The burden: Entirely on the State. The defendants don't have to prove anything. They don't have to testify. They don't have to present a single witness. The State must prove every element of this charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
What it means in plain English: This is a separate theory of first-degree murder. Under Michigan law, if someone is killed during the commission of certain specific felonies, that killing is automatically first-degree murder, even without proof of premeditation. Here, the underlying felony is unlawful imprisonment.
What the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: That London Thomas died during the commission of unlawful imprisonment. That the defendants participated in or were responsible for the unlawful imprisonment. That the death occurred as a result of or during the course of that felony.
Potential sentence if convicted: Mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, same as premeditated first-degree murder.
Why it matters: This gives the prosecution a second path to a first-degree murder conviction. If the jury isn't convinced the killing was premeditated but believes London was killed during unlawful imprisonment, they can still convict on first-degree murder through this felony murder theory.
What it means in plain English: The State alleges that London Thomas was restrained, confined, or held against her will. Preliminary hearing testimony indicated that London was tied up inside the house.
What the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: That the defendants knowingly restrained London Thomas. That the restraint was done without her consent. That it was done without lawful authority.
Potential sentence if convicted: Up to 15 years in prison.
Why it matters: This charge also serves as the predicate felony for the felony murder count. If the jury finds unlawful imprisonment, it opens the door to felony murder.
What it means in plain English: The State alleges that the defendants attempted to conceal, destroy, or alter evidence related to London Thomas's death. Prosecutors say Charla Pendergrass arranged for London's body to be moved from the Inkster home to an SUV in Southfield and later asked the same person to destroy the bin entirely.
What the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt: That the defendants knowingly concealed, altered, or destroyed evidence. That they knew a crime had been committed or was being investigated. That their actions were intended to interfere with the investigation or prosecution.
Potential sentence if convicted: Up to 10 years in prison (felony).
The prosecution's case, as it emerged during the preliminary hearing, rests on several pillars.
First, the testimony of Lanyja Wilkerson. She is the former girlfriend who alleges Jalen confessed to her, describing how his mother got into a fight with London, then told him to "get angry" and kill her. She says he described choking London with a belt. She also says he sent her those NBA YoungBoy lyrics that prosecutors argue mirror how London's body was discovered.
Second, the testimony of Charla's friend. The man who says Charla asked him to move a sealed plastic bin, then later asked him to destroy it. When police followed his tip, they found London's body inside that bin in his SUV. The prosecution says DNA consistent with Jalen Pendergrass was found on the bin's handles.
Third, the physical evidence. London died from asphyxia. Her body was found tied up and bruised inside a sealed container. The autopsy ruled it a homicide.
Fourth, what prosecutors describe as an extended campaign to deceive law enforcement. APA Dominic Degrazia told the court that both defendants, but particularly Charla Pendergrass, engaged in a sustained pattern of lies to cover up what happened. Charla allegedly told investigators she saw London leave the house alive on April 5. Prosecutors say that was a lie.
Both defense attorneys have pushed back hard on the prosecution's case.
Jalen's attorney, Adam Clements, has urged the public to withhold judgment. He acknowledged the widespread belief that Jalen is responsible but emphasized that belief is not evidence. He wants the evidence tested at trial, not in the court of public opinion.
Charla's attorney, Terry L. Johnson, has been more aggressive in his public statements. He pointed out that previous charges against his client were dismissed twice, once in Inkster and once in Romulus. He called the current case "the same recycled case from April" and said he doesn't believe the prosecution can prove anything now.
During the preliminary hearing, Johnson challenged Wilkerson's credibility directly. He emphasized that Wilkerson testified she and Jalen were both under the influence during the alleged confession. He also argued the autopsy findings did not fully support Wilkerson's account of events. His argument to the judge was blunt: the prosecution is asking you to rely on the word of a woman who was high when this alleged confession happened.
Johnson also raised questions about why Wilkerson didn't come forward with the alleged confession until October 2025, months after London's death. The prosecution countered that the specific details in Wilkerson's testimony could only have come from someone present during the incident, regardless of whether she was under the influence at the time she heard them.
The original charges in October 2025 were second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Second-degree murder does not require premeditation. It requires proving the defendant intended to kill but did so without advance planning.
At the January 2026 preliminary hearing, after hearing Wilkerson's testimony about Charla allegedly telling Jalen to "get angry" and "kill her," prosecutors requested the charges be upgraded. Judge Sabrina Johnson agreed, finding sufficient evidence to bind both defendants over on first-degree premeditated murder, felony murder, unlawful imprisonment, and tampering with evidence.
The upgrade is significant. Second-degree murder in Michigan carries up to life in prison, but with the possibility of parole. First-degree murder is mandatory life without parole. There's no discretion. There's no sentencing range. Conviction means dying in prison.
The upgrade also means the prosecution now has to prove something much harder: that this killing was planned before it happened. That's a higher bar. Whether Wilkerson's testimony is enough to clear that bar is something the jury will have to decide.
One of the most frustrating aspects of this case for London's family has been the timeline. She was found dead on April 26, 2025. Murder charges didn't come until October 16, 2025. Nearly six months. For the family, it felt like an eternity.
The delay is partly explained by the legal complications that arose early on.
After London's body was found, two people were taken into custody. Michigan State Police confirmed they were believed to be involved in her disappearance. But then both were released. The initial charges didn't stick.
In May 2025, Charla Pendergrass was charged with lying to a peace officer during a violent crime investigation. She had allegedly told an investigator that she saw London leave the house alive. The charge carried up to four years in prison. She was arraigned in the 22nd District Court with a $50,000 bond, GPS tether, and restrictions on leaving Michigan.
Then it fell apart.
The lying-to-a-peace-officer charge was dismissed in August 2025 because of a technicality that is genuinely worth understanding. The person Charla allegedly lied to was an FBI agent. Under Michigan law (MCL 750.478a), the statute specifically applies to lying to a "peace officer." But FBI agents are federal agents, not peace officers under Michigan's definition. The statute simply didn't cover the situation. The charge could not proceed.
Think about that for a moment. The prosecution had a defendant they believed lied to investigators about the death of a 17-year-old girl, and they couldn't make the charge stick because of a gap between state law and federal jurisdiction. The investigator who questioned her happened to carry a federal badge instead of a state one, and that distinction killed the case.
My father, Steven M. Askin, spent years teaching people about gaps like this. The law is precise. The words matter. The definitions matter. When the system works, that precision protects people from government overreach. But sometimes, that same precision creates loopholes that let people walk. The peace officer definition is one of those situations where the law as written didn't cover the reality on the ground. Whether that needs to change is a question for the Michigan Legislature, not for this case.
After the charges were dismissed, the investigation continued. Inkster police, Michigan State Police, Detroit police, and the FBI kept working the case. It took months. London's father said he hoped the delay meant they were being thorough. Then, in October 2025, Lanyja Wilkerson came forward with her account of Jalen's alleged confession. Both Jalen and Charla were arrested and charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
The family finally had what they'd been waiting for.
This case raises real questions. Not just about what happened to London Thomas, but about how the system is handling it. That's what we do here. We watch.
The credibility question. The prosecution's case for premeditation rests heavily on Lanyja Wilkerson's testimony. She says Jalen confessed. But she also admits both she and Jalen were under the influence when the confession allegedly happened. She didn't come forward for months. The defense is going to attack her credibility relentlessly. The jury will have to decide whether they believe her. That's a judgment call, and judgment calls go both ways.
The premeditation problem. Michigan law says premeditation doesn't require extensive planning. A few seconds of deliberation can be enough. But the prosecution still has to prove it happened. Their theory is that Charla told Jalen to "get angry" and kill London, which would suggest advance direction, not a spontaneous act. If the jury buys Wilkerson's testimony, premeditation is there. If they don't, the prosecution has a problem. Everything rides on whether one witness is believed.
Mother-son co-defendant dynamics. Jalen and Charla are both charged with first-degree murder. That means the prosecution is alleging that the mother actively participated in or directed the killing of her son's girlfriend. This isn't a case where mom helped clean up afterward and got charged as an accessory. This is a case where the State is saying she told her son to kill this girl. If that's true, the dynamics inside that house were far more disturbing than a domestic dispute that went wrong. If it's not true, the prosecution has overcharged based on one witness account.
The DNA evidence. Prosecutors say Jalen's DNA was found on the handles of the bin where London's body was stored. The defense hasn't publicly addressed the DNA evidence yet. At trial, the specifics will matter: how strong is the match, how was it collected, are there alternative explanations for how his DNA ended up there? DNA is powerful evidence, but it's not automatic. Context matters.
The age gap and relationship dynamics. London was 17. Jalen was 23. That's a six-year age gap between a minor and a legal adult. Prosecutors say the relationship had ended by the time London arrived at the house. What was the nature of this relationship? Were there signs of control, manipulation, or abuse that preceded the night London died? These are questions the trial may answer, and they speak to broader patterns that communities need to understand.
The evidence destruction allegations. If the prosecution can prove that Charla Pendergrass arranged to have London's body moved and then asked for the container to be destroyed, that goes beyond a lie to police. That's an alleged systematic effort to make a murdered teenager's body disappear. The jury will need to evaluate whether one defendant was merely aware of the crime or actively orchestrated the concealment.
The peace officer statute gap. The initial lying charge against Charla was dismissed because FBI agents aren't "peace officers" under Michigan law. That's a real statutory gap. In a world where federal and state agencies routinely collaborate on investigations, especially homicide cases, a definition that excludes federal investigators from lying-to-an-officer statutes creates a loophole that has real consequences. This case illustrates it clearly.
My father was disbarred for protecting attorney-client privilege from federal overreach, then criminally convicted for teaching people about their constitutional rights. He spent his career in the spaces where state and federal authority overlap, conflict, and sometimes fail the people caught in between. This Michigan peace officer statute gap is exactly the kind of issue he would have been all over. Not because it helps the defendant or the prosecution, but because the law should work. When it doesn't, everyone loses.
When this case goes to trial in Wayne County Circuit Court, we will be there. Every day.
Live broadcasts. No Breaks editions. Justice Breakdowns every night. Testimony segments so you can hear every word.
We are not here to convict. We are not here to acquit. We are here to watch the system work, and to make sure it works the way it's supposed to.
Both defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. That's not a technicality. That's the foundation of everything we do here.
London Thomas's family has been waiting for almost a year. They deserve a trial that respects her memory and respects the law. The defendants deserve a fair process. The public deserves transparency.
Let's watch together.
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