Two men were arrested Wednesday in connection with the February murder of a Vermont woman whose body was found in a container on a sandbar on the Missisquoi River in northern Vermont, state police said.
Aaron Camp, 34, of Derby, is charged with unauthorized burial or removal of a body and accessory after the fact to murder in the death of Kayla Wright of Derby, Vermont State Police said. Terron “Josh” Pendleton, 34, of Waterbury, is charged with being an accessory after the fact to murder, police said.
A judge also signed an arrest warrant Wednesday for Jakiy Tramaine Corey Keith, 24, of Hartford, Connecticut, on charges of first-degree murder and unauthorized burial or removal of a body, state police said. He is in custody on federal drug charges and it is unclear when he will be arraigned, police said.
Camp and Pendleton both invoked the 24-hour rule in court Wednesday, delaying their appearance until Thursday, according to the court. It is unclear whether they or Keith have attorneys. A message was left with the public defender’s office.
Wright, 29, of Derby, died of a gunshot wound to the head, police said. Her body was found in a truck-type toolbox on a sandbar on the Missisquoi River in Troy, according to an affidavit from a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
State police said Keith shot Wright three times at a Troy home early on the morning of Feb. 2 during a drug-related dispute, CBS affiliate WCAX-TV reported. Camp and Pendleton helped clean up the crime scene and helped Keith dispose of Wright’s body, police said.
Wright’s sister, Samantha Perkins, spoke to WCAX-TV in February after Wright’s body was found.
“She was just… my person, my best friend. I love her and I miss her,” Perkins told the station. “I think we all knew she was gone before we found her. Days go by and days go by, time goes by and I’m having a baby soon too. Just the fact that she’s not here and she’s not a part of this is killing me.”
Perkins shared one of her last Facebook conversations with Wright, in which her sister apologized to her family for her battle with addiction.
“She was always trying to get better and stay away from all that stuff most of the time. It’s really unfortunate that she wasn’t able to leave,” Perkins told WCAX-TV. “She was going to go to a 90-day program. She was going to try to find sober housing somewhere and I think this was her last chance.”
