A day after a missing Pearland teenager was found dead, a classmate has been accused of beating him to death.
Authorities now say that Joshua Wilkerson, 18, was beaten with a large wooden rod and that his body was burned. Hermilio Moralez, 19, is charged with murder in Wilkerson's death.
We are told by police that Moralez knew Wilkerson for about five years, that they were friends and that he often received rides home from school from Wilkerson. Now Moralez is in jail, accused of killing his own friend. "While this is not the end that we had hoped for, we had to know something. They have helped us to bring a little sense of closure for us," said Laura Wilkerson, Joshua's mother.
As she thanked the community for helping locate her son's body, we are learning more about the suspect. He was arrested Tuesday, allegedly roaming near the crime scene. Authorities say after initially refusing to identify himself, he claimed he had struck Wilkerson with a piece of wood after the teen made advances towards him. According to court documents, Wilkerson gave Moralez a ride home from school Tuesday and Moralez stated that Wilkerson began to make sexual advances towards him. Moralez said they got out of the truck and began to fight when Wilkerson grabbed a large wooden rod and tried to hit him.
Moralez said he took the piece of wood from Wilkerson and began to hit him with it. He said Wilkerson was not moving afterwards.
Adam will be portrayed by Jordan Todosey, a 15-year-old actress from Life With Derek. For the role, she underwent a significant makeover, including adopting a more masculine gait. Todosey describes Adam as a character who “was born physically as a girl but between the ears, he feels like he's a guy." The show’s director and producer, Stefan Brogren, who also plays the role of the school principal, explained the importance of the character, telling CTV News, "I can truly say that when we decided to do this episode we realized this is brand new territory for us. We've never even tried to breach this subject before. Of course, we've dealt with gay and lesbian stories, but you can't approach this the same way."
Cheyenne Williams, 18, of McKee, signed a sworn criminal complaint Monday, saying she was abducted on Friday by Corinne M. Schwab, 18, of Sandgap; Ashley N. Sams, 18, of Annville; and a 17-year-old girl who was not identified because she is a juvenile.
Williams told police she was attacked as a result of her sexual orientation, state police Detective Joie Peters said.
The criminal complaint says the girls unlawfully restrained and tried to cause Williams' death. The intent was to "accomplish or advance the commission of a felony and to inflict bodily injury or to terrorize" Williams. The complaint, which was signed by George Hays, the Jackson County attorney, does not provide any other details. Hays declined to comment.
State police issued a news release Tuesday that says Williams was "taken against her will to the Flat Lick Falls area" where she was assaulted and that the other three girls "attempted to push her over a cliff, which could have resulted in serious physical injury or death."
Williams was able to escape and get to safety, the report says.
Peters said the teens have been friends since sixth grade and all are students at Jackson County High School. Williams told police that she initially went with the others willingly and thought they were joking with her, but she said she later got scared, Peters said. Williams said the others then attacked her.
That's him and his sister...so weird to think about.
