WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 Jalen Pendergrass, the young man who admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend, London Thomas, will serve 25 to 50 years in prison.<\/p>\n
Pendergrass was sentenced on Friday morning after pleading guilty to second-degree murder on July 2, while all other charges against him were dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sentence agreement is for Mr. Pendergrass to serve a maximum of 50 years in the Michigan Department of Corrections and a minimum of 25 years,\u201d Judge Paul Cusic said on Friday morning. \u201cI do believe that every minute of a 50-year sentence would be deserved in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pendergrass admitted to strangling Thomas to death during an altercation at his home on Carlysle Street in Inkster on April 5, 2025. The 23-year-old Pendergrass and the 17-year-old Thomas had been in a relationship, but it had ended by the time she arrived at the house.<\/p>\n
Thomas was found dead three weeks later in Southfield on April 26, 2025 \u2013 two weeks after she had been reported missing to the Detroit Police.<\/p>\n
London Thomas. (WDIV)<\/p>\n
Pendergrass was charged alongside his 49-year-old mother, Charla. It was one of her friends who told the FBI that she asked him to move the plastic bin that unknowingly contained London\u2019s body.<\/p>\n
Charla Pendergrass (left) and Jalen Pendergrass (right) (WDIV)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case is different than some of the other ones that I had,\u201d Dominic DeGrazia, the Prosecuting Attorney, said during the sentencing. \u201cTo the extent that the defendant\u2019s pattern of deception and cold-blooded, cold-heartedness in this case really stands out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018A Waste of Skin\u2019<\/p>\n
The family\u2019s pain was on full display in the courtroom this morning. Both of Thomas\u2019 grandmothers, along with Jasma Bennett, Thomas\u2019 mother, gave jarring impact statements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t never been able to have animosity in my heart for nobody,\u201d Jestina Martin said. \u201cBut I do for you, because you took a part of my life that never be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou took a piece of me,\u201d she said. \u201cWhatever you get, it\u2019s what you deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Barbara Bennett, Thomas\u2019 maternal grandmother, attempted to show grace in mourning London but took a pointed shot at both mother and son for what they had done.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will always love London, always, until we meet again,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cThe only regret that I have is that Charla and Jalen Pendergrass are still walking this Earth, and London is not. He is a waste of skin!\u201d<\/p>\n
London\u2019s mother spoke through tears on the stand, saying that she has not known peace since her daughter was taken from her. She quoted Bible verses and shared stories of missing the simple moments with her daughter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not a moment that you are not in my thoughts and prayers,\u201d Jasma Bennett said. \u201cShe had such a strong and beautiful, truthful, brave, fearless personality and energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I wake and when I sleep and when I try to live, this devastation will never, ever leave me,\u201d she added. \u201cWe would try, try to keep going. She didn\u2019t even have the opportunity to argue and fight and then to make it right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jalen Pendergrass is off to prison; this case is not fully closed.<\/p>\n
Charla Pendergrass is still facing first-degree murder, unlawful imprisonment and evidence tampering charges. Her trial will begin on Oct. 26.<\/p>\n
You can listen to the full sentencing hearing below:<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WAYNE COUNTY, Mich. \u2013 Jalen Pendergrass, the young man who admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend, London Thomas, will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95070,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[34135,34147,27,34146],"class_list":["post-95069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-detroit","tag-inkster","tag-london","tag-wayne-county"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117017346745754666","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95069\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}