It's been six months since London Thomas was killed. Much of the case had the metro area concerned. Now, authorities have charged Thomas's boyfriend and his mother with her death.

Jalen Pendergrass, 23, and his mother, Charla Pendergrass, 49, of Clawson, are currently in custody and have each been charged with second-degree murder.   

Thomas was last seen around 4 a.m. on April 5 after she was dropped off at an Inkster residence on the 27200 block of Carlysle Street near Inkster Road. Her body was found in Southfield on April 26, 2025, in the area of Millard Street near Berg Road, inside an SUV parked in the driveway of a home. A medical examiner determined that Thomas died from asphyxia and ruled the manner of death as homicide. 

"I hope it was worth it in y'all eyes, because y'all life is over with," said Thomas' step-father, Darnell Johnson. "Harming a child, taking their life, that's beyond being a parent, that's just straight evil."

When Thomas first disappeared, her family spent hours searching the Inkster area. Now knowing Jalen Pendergrass' mother is accused of playing a role in Thomas's death is unsettling, but not surprising, for Johnson.

"It's always been heavy on my mind that they were involved somehow, someway. It just clarifies what I've been feeling, what everyone has been thinking," Johnson told CBS News Detroit.

Prosecutors allege a friend of Charla Pendergrass told police that Charla allegedly asked him to take a sealed plastic bin and drop it off, which he did.

"I couldn't believe it. How could someone be so evil when it comes to a child? Anybody, for that matter. We are humans at the end of the day. Nobody deserves that, period," Johnson said.

Since Thomas' death, Johnson got a tattoo in her honor. With the latest charges, the family feels one step closer to justice.

"It's hard not to sit in the house and not think of her at the table or couch without getting emotional because that was our baby girl," Johnson said.