MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Two weeks after investigators discovered the body of 17-year-old Lesley Luna Pantaleon in an Alabama creek, three teenage girls have been arrested and charged with capital murder in her 10-day disappearance and death.
Authorities in Montgomery, Alabama, identified the suspects Tuesday as Ta’Niya Merriweather, Erin Taylor and Tyeshia Whisenant, each 16, AL.com reported.
Lesley Luna Pantaleon was reported missing June 24, the same day she was allegedly beaten with a metal pole and stabbed to death, according to a court record. Three 16-year-old girls are accused of the killing. https://t.co/F3AuztXOvi
— MontgomeryAdvertiser (@MGMAdvertiser) July 21, 2020
Montgomery police Capt. Saba Coleman said investigators believe the three girls and Pantaleon were involved in a physical altercation, and court documents indicate a robbery occurred as well, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.
Pantaleon was reported missing by her parents on June 24, and police discovered her body in Catoma Creek on July 4, the Advertiser reported.
According to charging documents, Pantaleon was killed between 3 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. the same day she went missing, and the three suspects are accused of taking her cellphone and 2006 Chevrolet Trailblazer following the murder. Records also indicate she was beaten with a metal pole and stabbed to death, but a definitive motive has not been made public, the Advertiser reported.
All three suspects have been charged as adults and are being held in the Montgomery County Detention Facility, but their ages prohibit the distribution of their arrest photos, AL.com reported.
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