At a press conference in her office, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis revealed the arrest and described it as one of the most horrific incidents she has ever witnessed.
Willis described the case as horrifying and stated that there was no way to identify her. According to officials, Alston’s remains were discovered on December 6, 2007, following a complaint to Troup County deputies regarding a burning bag at the intersection of Whitfield and Stitcher roads.
The case remained unsolved for years. Then, in early 2023, after sending evidence for DNA testing, officials made a significant breakthrough. Willis said a genealogy test her sister had performed helped forensics investigators identify Alston.
Longtime investigator Clay Bryant, who returned to the sheriff’s office after retirement to assist in reviewing some of its unresolved cases, resubmitted the evidence. It’s a component of an expanding initiative by Georgia’s law enforcement agencies to reexamine homicides that haven’t been solved.
According to investigators, Alston and Thompson relocated from New York to Atlanta in 2007. In south Fulton County, the pair rented an apartment.
However, investigators say they think the relationship became abusive very fast. In the weeks and months before her death, Willis claimed, Alston was sexually trafficked by her partner. According to Willis, Thompson’s refusal to allow Alston to end the connection led to the 24-year-old’s passing.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office is credited.
Fulton County Sheriff’s Office is credited.
Alston’s mother, Sylvia Alston, sobbed as she told reporters, “She didn’t deserve this, and I wish I never let her come to Georgia.”
She characterized her daughter as talented and vivacious. According to her mother, Nicole Alston was always the life of the party and had an infectious smile.
According to Sandy Springs Detective John Nanoff, on the night that Alston’s death was discovered, Thompson was already using dating websites. According to him, she opened bank accounts, obtained a driver’s license, received housing assistance, and received Social Security benefits in Alston’s name after her passing.
Nanoff stated, “It’s amazing that she was able to do what she did for how long she did it.” It is the most careful and well-planned thing I have ever seen.
According to warrants, Alston was most likely murdered inside the Palmetto apartment of the couple. Even seventeen years after the woman’s disappearance, authorities stated a test of the restroom found significant amounts of blood.
Thompson had already been charged in relation to Alston’s disappearance, including this week’s arrest. After Troup County authorities discovered she had been receiving Alston’s government benefits for years, they charged her with one count of concealing the death of another person in August of last year. Two days later, she was freed on bond.
According to a sheriff’s office spokesperson, they collaborated with Sandy Springs police and the DA’s office to carry out the investigation since they lacked sufficient evidence to charge Thompson with murder at the time.
The Fulton County Jail is holding Thompson without bond. Willis stated that she intends to submit the case to a grand jury before the end of October and that Thompson will be charged with both murder and human trafficking in her indictment.
