Police: Del. teens locked 89-year-old woman in car trunk for two days
1/4
Delaware State Police. Jackeline Perez, 15.
Delaware State Police have arrested five juveniles for allegedly carjacking an 89-year-old woman, robbing her and locking her in for two days in the trunk of her own car.
Investigators said relatives around 9 p.m. on Tuesday reported Lincoln woman Margaret Smith missing.
Smith hadn’t been seen or heard from since 11 a.m. and had medical conditions that require medication. A Gold Alert was issued Tuesday night.
A visitor to a cemetery on Calvary Road east of Seaford found Smith around 8:20 a.m. Wednesday morning, confused and wandering around the graves. She appeared to be suffering from exposure.
Investigators determined through interviews that Smith was at the Chicken Man Convenience Store in Milford on Monday when she was approached by two girls, later identified as 14-year-old Junia McDonald and 15-year-old Jackeline Perez.
Police said Smith agreed to give the girls a ride to the Lincoln area. When they arrived at a residents, the teens allegedly wrestled Smith’s keys away, ordered out of the car and forced her into the drunk.
They then allegedly drove off with Smith locked inside. At one point, the girls allegedly demanded money from the woman before taking more than $500 from her coat pocket.
Authorities said after Smith was trapped in the trunk for nearly two days, the girls dumped her at the cemetery.
As Smith was being interviewed by detectives, troopers in Bridgeville conducting a traffic stop found her car. They arrested five juveniles that were inside the vehicle.
McDonald and Perez are both charged with robbery, carjacking, kidnapping and conspiracy.
They are both committed to the Stevenson House Detention Center in lieu of $122,000 cash bond.
Rondaiges Harper, 17, and Phillip Brewer, 17, who police found in Smith’s car Wednesday, are both charged with second-degree kidnapping, conspiracy and receiving stolen property. They are incarcerated at Stevenson House on $27,000 secured bond
Deniaya Smith, 15, who was also riding in Smith’s car, is charged with second-degree conspiracy and receiving stolen property. She is being held at Stevenson House on $2,000 secured bond.
