An Inkster man who killed his former teenage girlfriend — whose body was found stuffed in a bin left in an SUV in Southfield last year — was sentenced Friday in a Wayne County courtroom.
At a hearing in 3rd Judicial Circuit Court, Judge Paul Cusick ordered Jalen Pendergrass, 24, to spend 25-50 years in prison for the murder of 17-year-old London Thomas. Pendergrass pleaded guilty on July 2 to second-degree murder for London’s death, and charges of tampering with evidence, felony murder and unlawful imprisonment were dismissed.
Jail credit of 294 days was noted.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, London’s mother had reported her missing on April 6, 2025 because she didn’t return home after being dropped off the day before at Jalen Pendergrass’s house. London had been in a relationship with Jalen Pendergrass, but it allegedly ended at the time she arrived at his house, the prosecutor’s office stated.
Three weeks after London was dropped off at Jalen Pendergrass’s house, a male friend of Jalen Pendergrass’s mother, Charla Pendergrass, told Inkster police she had asked him to transport a sealed plastic bin to an SUV parked on Millard Street in Southfield, which he did, the prosecutor’s office stated. The contents were reportedly unknown to him.
Michigan State Police, along with the FBI and the Detroit Police Department, conducted a search at the Millard Street address and found London’s remains inside the bin, the prosecutor’s office stated.
For Charla Pendergrass, 49, of Clawson, criminal charges of murder, tampering with evidence and unlawful imprisonment are pending. Trial is scheduled for Oct. 26.