FBI crime lab testing evidence in Ja'Naya Thompson's killing
rfitzgerald@sunherald.com Twitter: robincrimenewsSeptember 20, 2014
FBI Lab Director Dwight Adams, right, explains trace evidence examination during a tour of the FBI's then-new crime lab in Quantico, Va., in 2003. Evidence is being analyzed there that was collected in the disappearance and killing of 5-year-old Ja'Naya Thompson.
GULFPORT -- One of the largest, most comprehensive crime labs in the world is analyzing evidence collected in the disappearance and killing of 5-year-old Ja'Naya Thompson.
It's the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Va., whose teams have recovered evidence in some of the most high-profile international disasters and performed forensic tests to identify child pornographers, kidnappers and terrorists.
Local police typically use the Mississippi Crime Laboratory or a private crime lab for forensic tests to solve a crime.
So how did the Gulfport Police Department obtain the full resources of the FBI?
Panic gripped neighbors, first responders and strangers July 16 when a search of The Palms apartment complex turned up no sign of Ja'Naya. She had been playing outside the sliding-glass doors of her family's apartment before she disappeared that night.
"All the conventional methods we were using were not finding her," Police Chief Leonard Papania said.
Asking for help
"We were getting concerned if we were moving forward properly. As we were garnering resources to search for her, I reached out to the FBI for their expertise. We were thinking it was going to go long-term."
Agents from the FBI's Gulfport office were on scene the next morning when a search-and-rescue dog, using the scent from a piece of Ja'Naya's clothing, raised suspicions outside a vacant mobile home on Whitney Drive, about 50 yards north of the apartments. A search team alerted some Gulfport firefighters. They found Ja'Naya hanging from two socks tied to a metal bar on a small window above the bathtub. It appeared she had been sexually assaulted.
The girl, who loved to dress up and wear jewelry, died of asphyxiation by strangulation. She was looking forward to starting kindergarten at the school across from her apartment on Klein Road.
Papania said the FBI offered to bring in its evidence-response team unit from the Jackson office, which oversees FBI activity in Mississippi. He accepted the offer.
More than 100 pieces of evidence were collected, according to police testimony in the recent preliminary hearing of Alberto Garcia.
Garcia's arrest
Police arrested Garcia, 29, the day after Ja'Naya's body was found. Police said they were questioning him about her disappearance when he voluntarily admitted he had broken into the mobile home days earlier, saying his fingerprints would be found there. Garcia also lived at The Palms.
Police first arrested Garcia on a burglary charge, but identified him as one of two suspects in the killing. A judge set his bond at $500,000.
A few days later, Garcia asked to speak to a detective, and reportedly gave information only police and the perpetrators would have known. He also told them a neighbor, Julian Gray, came to his apartment that night and told him he'd had an incident with a girl and needed his help, recent testimony revealed.
Police said Garcia confessed to sexually assaulting Ja'Naya and helping hang her.
Police arrested him on a capital murder charge July 23. He is being held with no bond.
Testimony at Garcia's preliminary hearing revealed his DNA and statements to police linked him to her sexual assault and hanging. The testimony offered no explanation as to who took Ja'Naya to the trailer.
Gray a person of interest
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Gray, also a resident of The Palms, is held on unrelated charges and remains a person of interest.
Two months later, Gray has not been charged in Ja'Naya's death.
Papania said the FBI Laboratory is continuing to process evidence.
Police arrested Gray the night Ja'Naya was found dead. He is held on bonds of $500,000 on charges of rape and sexual battery. Police have said they arrested him on the complaint of a female acquaintance who claims he sexually assaulted her at his apartment.
The lack of a second arrest has drawn criticism from some in a widespread community that united in an outpouring of concern for the child and her family.
However, grand juries often decline to hand down indictments in cases in which tests on crucial evidence have not been completed.
Status of evidence
So where does the processing of evidence stand?
"As a matter of practice, the FBI Laboratory does not publicize information regarding forensic examinations conducted in support of criminal investigations that belong to our law enforcement partners," said FBI Special Agent Ann Todd of the Office of Public Affairs in Quantico.
Todd said the FBI lab "uses cutting-edge science and state-of-the-art technology" and has more than 500 scientific experts and special agents. "The men and women of the FBI Laboratory are dedicated to using the rigors of science … to assist law enforcement and national security investigations worldwide."
Papania said he has no idea how long it will take.
"We all want this to be done and over with," he said. "The quality of the process is what we need to focus on. Our job in law enforcement is to bring it to a conclusion, and when we conclude our investigation, the District Attorney's Office will take over.
"By no means has this investigation concluded."
It's the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Va., whose teams have recovered evidence in some of the most high-profile international disasters and performed forensic tests to identify child pornographers, kidnappers and terrorists.
Local police typically use the Mississippi Crime Laboratory or a private crime lab for forensic tests to solve a crime.
So how did the Gulfport Police Department obtain the full resources of the FBI?
Panic gripped neighbors, first responders and strangers July 16 when a search of The Palms apartment complex turned up no sign of Ja'Naya. She had been playing outside the sliding-glass doors of her family's apartment before she disappeared that night.
"All the conventional methods we were using were not finding her," Police Chief Leonard Papania said.
Asking for help
"We were getting concerned if we were moving forward properly. As we were garnering resources to search for her, I reached out to the FBI for their expertise. We were thinking it was going to go long-term."
Agents from the FBI's Gulfport office were on scene the next morning when a search-and-rescue dog, using the scent from a piece of Ja'Naya's clothing, raised suspicions outside a vacant mobile home on Whitney Drive, about 50 yards north of the apartments. A search team alerted some Gulfport firefighters. They found Ja'Naya hanging from two socks tied to a metal bar on a small window above the bathtub. It appeared she had been sexually assaulted.
The girl, who loved to dress up and wear jewelry, died of asphyxiation by strangulation. She was looking forward to starting kindergarten at the school across from her apartment on Klein Road.
Papania said the FBI offered to bring in its evidence-response team unit from the Jackson office, which oversees FBI activity in Mississippi. He accepted the offer.
More than 100 pieces of evidence were collected, according to police testimony in the recent preliminary hearing of Alberto Garcia.
Garcia's arrest
Police arrested Garcia, 29, the day after Ja'Naya's body was found. Police said they were questioning him about her disappearance when he voluntarily admitted he had broken into the mobile home days earlier, saying his fingerprints would be found there. Garcia also lived at The Palms.
Police first arrested Garcia on a burglary charge, but identified him as one of two suspects in the killing. A judge set his bond at $500,000.
A few days later, Garcia asked to speak to a detective, and reportedly gave information only police and the perpetrators would have known. He also told them a neighbor, Julian Gray, came to his apartment that night and told him he'd had an incident with a girl and needed his help, recent testimony revealed.
Police said Garcia confessed to sexually assaulting Ja'Naya and helping hang her.
Police arrested him on a capital murder charge July 23. He is being held with no bond.
Testimony at Garcia's preliminary hearing revealed his DNA and statements to police linked him to her sexual assault and hanging. The testimony offered no explanation as to who took Ja'Naya to the trailer.
Gray a person of interest
Meanwhile, the 31-year-old Gray, also a resident of The Palms, is held on unrelated charges and remains a person of interest.
Two months later, Gray has not been charged in Ja'Naya's death.
Papania said the FBI Laboratory is continuing to process evidence.
Police arrested Gray the night Ja'Naya was found dead. He is held on bonds of $500,000 on charges of rape and sexual battery. Police have said they arrested him on the complaint of a female acquaintance who claims he sexually assaulted her at his apartment.
The lack of a second arrest has drawn criticism from some in a widespread community that united in an outpouring of concern for the child and her family.
However, grand juries often decline to hand down indictments in cases in which tests on crucial evidence have not been completed.
Status of evidence
So where does the processing of evidence stand?
"As a matter of practice, the FBI Laboratory does not publicize information regarding forensic examinations conducted in support of criminal investigations that belong to our law enforcement partners," said FBI Special Agent Ann Todd of the Office of Public Affairs in Quantico.
Todd said the FBI lab "uses cutting-edge science and state-of-the-art technology" and has more than 500 scientific experts and special agents. "The men and women of the FBI Laboratory are dedicated to using the rigors of science … to assist law enforcement and national security investigations worldwide."
Papania said he has no idea how long it will take.
"We all want this to be done and over with," he said. "The quality of the process is what we need to focus on. Our job in law enforcement is to bring it to a conclusion, and when we conclude our investigation, the District Attorney's Office will take over.
"By no means has this investigation concluded."
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