The Horrific Murder of J'Anaya Thompson

Ja’Naya Thompson disappeared from her apartment at The Palms in Gulfport, Mississippi, on July 16, 2014. Police found the body of the 5-year-old girl hanging from a window crank by a pair of socks inside an abandoned trailer across the street the following day. She had been raped and sodomized before her death.

A happy 5-year-old girl with a bright smile, Ja’Naya Thompson disappeared from her apartment at The Palms in Gulfport on July 16, 2014. Her family and loved ones searched the neighborhood for the missing girl, knocking on doors at the complex to ask if anyone had seen her.

Alberto Garcia lived next door to Ja’Naya and her family. He seemed especially concerned with finding the little girl. 

The family called the police when they did not find her.

Along with Garcia and other neighbors, Ja’Naya’s family and the police continued searching the neighborhood for any signs of the missing girl.

Ja’Naya's body was found inside an abandoned trailer across the street from the apartment complex where she lived. Her body was hanging from a window crank by a pair of socks. She had been raped and sodomized.

A coroner determined her cause of death to be strangulation. Gulfport Police Detective Samuel Jewell stated:

‘She was hung with what we know now as two pairs of socks and that was attached to a metal bar in a small window attached to above the tub. She was suspended.’

Police began questioning neighbors and people in the community, hoping a witness saw something.  Garcia became nervous when told Ja’Naya’s body had been found. He implicated a man named Julin Gray in the crime and told police that his fingerprints might be in the trailer because he “robbed it last week.” He also provided numerous details only the killer would know.

Police suspected Garcia was responsible for the horrific crimes committed against Ja’Naya. He was arrested on burglary charges and taken to jail. In custody, he continued speaking to police about the case.

According to Garcia, he blacked out the night Ja’Naya disappeared, and he didn't remember a lot about the events. Strangely enough, he remembered smelling feces on himself but wasn't sure why. He said he showered and cleaned himself up.

He was arrested on burglary charges but continued speaking with police. He stated that on the night J’anya went missing, he blacked out but remembered smelling feces on himself but wasn’t sure why. He showered and cleaned himself up. When police asked questions about the evidence suggesting he was responsible for the murder, he requested an attorney.

When police informed Garcia they suspected that he was the person who had hurt Ja’Naya, he asked for an attorney. When DNA from Ja’Naya’s body came back matching Garcia’s, he was charged with her murder. Police had over 100 other pieces of evidence tying him to the crimes.

Despite the mound of evidence against him, Garcia maintained his innocence until five days before his 2016 trial was set to begin. He wrote a letter to police asking to speak with the detectives in the case. The day before his trial date, Garcia confessed to sexually assaulting, sodomizing, and murdering  Ja’Naya Thomspon. He claimed that he confessed because he did not want his mother to sit through a trial and see and hear the evidence against him.

He was sentenced to death.

To the family: Written to honor J'Anya's memory. I am SO SORRY for your loss. Seeing the mother's photos -I can feel her pain.