Two suspects were charged with murder and hate crimes in the killing of a Black Navy veteran and youth pastor at a California gas station last week, authorities said Friday.
Prosecutors in San Joaquin County, south of Sacramento, accuse Jeremy Wayne Jones, 49, and Christina Lyn Garner, 42, of first-degree murder in the March 15 killing of Justin Peoples, 30, according to a criminal complaint.
The charges carry a “special circumstance,” alleging Jones and Garner targeted Peoples because of race, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion, making them eligible for a prison term of life without the possibility of parole., the district attorney’s office provided photos of tattoos of a Swastika and the words “white power.” It wasn’t clear which suspect they belonged to. A spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the news release, authorities said the killing occurred at a Chevron gas station in the city of Tracy. When officers found Peoples, he had been shot once and stabbed, the release says. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, Peoples' father, Maurice Peoples, said in an interview.Maurice Peoples said his son had gone to the gas station with his girlfriend to get quarters for laundry. The girlfriend, who stayed behind in their car, said that when Justin Peoples entered the gas station, the suspects followed him in, according to Maurice Peoples.Maurice Peoples said his son grew up in the nearby city of Stockton, in California's Central Valley.
Maurice Peoples said that his son had a "big kind heart" and a big smile. "When he came around you could feel the light from his smile," he said.
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