CHARLOTTE — Prosecutors say the teens accused of killing an innocent woman in Lancaster met each other through a soccer team and planned the crime on WhatsApp.
A juvenile court hearing was held Tuesday for the 13, 14 and 15-year-old suspects in Larisha Thompson’s shooting death.
Police said the group of teens and three young adults planned to go to Riverside Road on May 3 and shoot at a car.
That’s exactly what they’re accused of doing, taking the life of a young mother.
The victim’s mother said she watched the 14- and 15-year-olds hug their families in court after they learned they won’t be released from jail. The solicitor’s office will seek to try them as adults.
Testimony in court indicated the three teens and two young adults followed the lead of Asael Torres.
Investigators said they used WhatsApp to plan the botched burglary of Vanwyck Mart in Lancaster, shooting a security camera with the same gun later used to kill Thompson.
Prosecutors said Thompson was headed to a birthday party.
They say the six suspects had a plan to shoot at a car on Riverside Road and get the driver to stop. That was when they would rob the driver and get rid of the evidence.
The investigator told the judge that Torres shot and killed Thompson, and all six suspects got out to try to get in her car.
It was locked from the inside they couldn’t get into her car.
Then security camera video showed the six guys in a store minutes later. They were giddy and flipped off one of the store’s cameras.
“They were happy that they killed somebody,” said Deb Thompson, the victim’s mother. “They even talked about throwing the car in the river. Getting rid of bodies. Her body and everything. If they could have got in her car we might not have known where she was.”
Investigators say they have WhatsApp messages from the group of suspects.
After the fatal shooting they send these messages:
- “Relax, this is just the beginning.”
- “It’s what it is. At least we killed someone.”
- “If one fall, we all fall.”
Defense attorneys say the 13, 14, and 15 years felt threaten by Torres, the only one who fired the gun connected to both shootings.
All suspects are undocumented and not U.S. citizens. They will remain in custody with immigration holds.
If they were released, ICE would start the removal process and they could be deported before Thompson’s family gets justice
VIDEO: 6 charged in Lancaster mother’s death, could be removed from U.S.
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