A 14-year-old boy is accused, along with his police officer lover and two other men, of conspiring to murder the boy's father in Mississippi.
Kenneth Thompson, 53, of McComb, Miss. was found with his throat cut Sunday, according to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Earlier this week, authorities arrested his son Blake, 14; Jasper Pittman, 25, a police officer in the nearby town of Brookhaven; Greg Fortenberry, 26; and LeJerrious Perkins, 17.
Family members told the Clarion-Ledger that Blake Thompson ran away from home last week, prompting his father to go looking for him Sunday. Family members became concerned when Kenneth Thompson did not return home that evening and did not answer his cell phone. Lillian Mallard, the victim's sister-in-law, told the paper that the elder Thompson's body was found in a shallow grave and his truck had been burnt and discarded elsewhere.
Investigators allege that as Thompson received a call from one of the men telling him that his son was staying at Pittman's house. When he arrived there, Fortenberry and Perkins killed him
Mallard said her nephew's relationship with his father had deteriorated since the death of the boy's mother in 2008, adding that Blake Thompson was getting in trouble at school. He was stealing.”
Mallard also said that she understood that Blake was "in a relationship" with Pittman. On Wednesday, the Brookhaven Police Department said that Pittman had been fired from the force, where he had only been employed two weeks.
Pittman is charged with accessory after the fact of murder, sexual battery, arson, conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit arson. Fortenberry and Perkins are charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, arson and conspiracy to commit arson. Family members said that Blake Thompson has been charged with murder, though it is not clear if he is being charged as an adult.
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