CALIFORNIA (Washington Insider Magazine) – Authorities announced Friday that 2 suspects have been charged with homicide and hate crimes in the murder of a Black Navy veteran and youth pastor at a California gas station last week.
According to a criminal case filed in San Joaquin County, south of Sacramento, prosecutors charge Christina Lyn Garner, 42, and Jeremy Wayne Jones, 49, of first-degree homicide in the March 15 murder of Justin Peoples, 30.
The allegations include a “special circumstance” charging that Garner and Jones attacked Peoples based on sexual orientation, race, religion, or ethnicity, leaving them eligible for a life sentence with no chance of parole.
The district attorney’s office published photographs of a Swastika tattoo and the phrases “white power” in a press release about the crime. It wasn’t evident who they belonged to among the suspects. A request for information was not immediately returned by a spokesman.
The office of the district attorney did not disclose any more information regarding the suspected hate crime.
According to NBC NEWS, a third individual has been accused of being an accomplice to the alleged crime.
Authorities stated the homicide happened at a Chevron gas station in Tracy, according to the press release. According to the press statement, Peoples was shot once and stabbed when officials found him.
Peoples’ father, Maurice Peoples, confirmed in an interview that he was subsequently pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
According to Maurice Peoples, his son went to the gas station along with his girlfriend to buy quarters for the wash. According to Maurice Peoples, the girlfriend who waited in their car reported that as Justin Peoples approached the gas station, the accused followed him in.
It’s unclear if there was a fight between Lyn and Jones before they stabbed and shot him.
According to Maurice Peoples, his son grew up in Stockton, California’s Central Valley. Before joining the Navy in 2010, he went to San Joaquin Delta College, according to Maurice Peoples. He was medically released with ulcers about a year later, he claimed.
Justin Peoples was a youth pastor at a local church who worked two jobs delivering packages and auto parts when he was murdered, according to his father, Maurice Peoples. He had two boys, ages 2 and 11, according to his father.
His father, Maurice Peoples, described his son as having a “big kind heart” and a big smile.
Image via NBC News