Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Murdered Woman Stuffed in Toolbox and Dumped in River, Sister Speaks On Arrests

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Kayla Wright's family knew something was wrong in early February when they started receiving odd messages from her social media accounts. Within days, Wright's body was found stuffed in a toolbox in a sandbar in the Missisquoi River in Vermont. Now, three men are charged in connection with Wright's murder. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy talks with Wright's twin sister about her role in helping solve the case and retired homicide detective Fil Waters in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guests: Sam PerkinsFil Waters https://kindredspiritsinvestigations.com/about-us/CRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@LawandCrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this law and crimes series ad free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple podcasts or Spotify. She was just a beautiful soul and she she helped a lot of people with their addictions to. A twin sister jumps into action to help track down the people accused of murdering her sister. Now, three people face charges in connection to the murder of Kayla Wright. Could more charges be coming? Kayla's sister is here with her story. Everything he told me about where to find Kayla, what happened to Kayla, all ended up being true. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. This is a really terrible case.

Kayla Wright was found dead this past February, her body stuffed in a toolbox in Vermont. Three people are now charged in connection to Wright's murder. Ja'Kai Tremaine Corey Keefe is now accused of shooting Kayla Wright. He's been in jail since February on federal charges, accusing him of being part of a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl with Breonna Rooney and Thomas Rooney. The investigation into Kayla Wright's murder began in early February when her family couldn't reach her. Kayla's sister will be here to tell us more about that in just a minute. On February 6th, someone found a toolbox on the Big Falls along the Missico River. A family member of Wright's told police that a man named Anthony Barrow indicated

that a kid named, quote, Cash KD on Facebook had shot Kayla and disposed of her body by concealing it in a toolbox and tossing it into Big Falls the previous night. Vermont State Police say that Keith told the same story to one of their sergeants. But now they say that that was all a lie and that Ja'Kai Keith, who also went by Anthony Burrow online to set up drug deals, shot and killed Kayla Wright. Vermont State Police posted on its website, the state police investigation revealed that Keith shot Wright multiple times early in the morning on February 2nd, 2024, inside a home on Vermont Route 100 in Troy. The shooting arose from a dispute related to drug trafficking in northern Vermont.

Camp and Pendleton assisted with cleaning up the crime scene following the shooting. Camp assisted Keith in disposing of Wright's body in a large toolbox in the area of Big Falls on the Missiquo River in Troy. Now, Keith faces a second-degree murder charge. But Aaron Camp, he's anotherla River in Troy. Now, Keith faces a second degree murder charge, but Aaron Camp, he's another man involved in this. You heard him referenced in that statement. He faces charges of unauthorized burial or removal of a body and being an accessory after the fact to murder. And you heard the name Pendleton in that statement as well. Teron Josh Pendleton faces one count of being an accessory after the fact to murder. Sam Perkins, who is Kayla Wright's sister, had posted on Facebook when these arrests were announced last week, Kayla fought hard to beat her addiction and had beaten it multiple times

and was clean for two years. None of these people ever fought to overcome their drug issues. They just kept getting worse and worse and turned into monsters. My sister is nothing like these people. So for the ones who want to compare her to them, F you. And remember, these people are liars and what they say isn't reputable. Thank you everyone else for your support and love you have for Kayla and my family. The world is not always a safe place. when accidents happen you might need an attorney that's going to fight for you and stand up for your rights that's why i want to talk to you about morgan and morgan a sponsor of crime fix morgan and morgan has more than 1 000 attorneys you may want in your corner because they are america's largest injury firm and for a reason

they win a lot morgan and mor Morgan has secured several multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements recently for victims who were in life-altering car crashes, all of which were considerably higher than the highest insurance offer. Starting a claim takes just eight clicks or less and it can all be done from your smartphone. And there are no upfront fees. You only pay Morgan & Morgan if you win. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim in eight clicks or less at forthepeople.com slash crime fix. Joining me is Sam Perkins. She is Kayla Wright's twin sister.

Sam, thanks so much for coming on. First of all, your thoughts on the news that they've actually charged three people in connection to your sister's murder. Yeah, it was a long time coming. You know, it was hard waiting because we all knew who was involved and I hope that there's more arrests to come. Oh, okay. More arrests. What do you mean by that? And I asked because I've read the federal court documents and it discusses the house where kayla's life was taken and the people who lived there they of course now are facing federal drug charges for a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl um but

do you believe that even more people will be charged? Have you been led to believe that? Do you think that the Roonies were involved? I think 100% they were involved. They were living there. They knew what happened. They never reached out to let us know. They never reached out to the police. They covered it up just as much as the others did. In the court documents, it talks about a family member being you

know told by Keith that that your sister had been killed that she was dead were you that family member I was yeah okay so did you know Ja'Kai Keith? I mean, I guess he went by Anthony Borough on Facebook. Did you know him? I did not. So how did that conversation take place? Well, it started with them initially messaging my mom pretending to be Kayla. And that was the Friday night, the second. And saying, I'm not coming home.

Don't look for me. And we instantly knew that it was not Kayla. And so I had messaged Kayla's Snapchat account. And they were messaging me for the rest of Friday night, just trying to make us believe that Kayla was still alive and she wasn't coming home. They wouldn't call us or video chat with us. I asked for a live picture of Kayla on Snapchat and they refused to do that also. So we instantly knew that something was wrong.

And then the messages continued from Kayla's phone all day Saturday until the police finally went and retrieved the phone from them. And it said that they went to the Rooney house and said they knew that the phone was there. And I guess that Brianna Rooney went and found the phone in a pile of clothes somewhere is what the court documents say so from there the investigation unfolds and so how did Jakai Keith tell you that your sister was dead was that a Snapchat or a Facebook conversation so well first they told me through Caleb's Snapchat that they had killed her and that's when the cops went and got the phone in the the meantime, while that was going on, Ja'Kai or Anthony Barrow messaged me on his personal or his fake Facebook account. And he continued messaging me up until they found Kayla's body and took his phone away from him.

Wow. So your sister, you had posted on your Facebook page that she had struggled with addiction and she actually had been clean for a period of time. A lot of people in this country struggle with addiction, but she had been clean and then did she relapse and get involved with these people somehow? Yeah, so Kayla lived in Big Sky, Montana for two years

before she moved back to Vermont and all of this stuff happened. So she came back to Vermont because I was pregnant. She wanted to be closer to my parents and, of course, me and my daughter. And so she moved back here and you know this is a hard place to come back to if you have a drug addiction it's not a good place for recovering addicts um so she got pulled back into it and she actually was supposed to leave for rehab monday that monday after um then yeah monday the 5th, February 5th. She was supposed to leave for rehab for 90 days in California that she had set up herself to try to get her life back on track,

but they took that opportunity from her. Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I mean, why was she hanging out with these people? I mean, were they supplying her with drugs or did she just, was she friends with any of them or thought they supplying her with drugs or did she just was she friends with any of them or thought she was friends with some of them no she wasn't friends with any any of them um that's just they were supplying her and that was it for her relationship with them so many months had passed before the charges were filed. Were you hopeful or did you know that the police were working on this and that charges were indeed coming or did they just have to investigate further to really piece together exactly what happened? I mean, why do you think

it took so many months for them to file the charges? I think it took so long just because they were gathering evidence and they wanted to make sure that they had everything they needed before they charged these people so they wouldn't get away with it. But we knew charges were coming. It was just a matter of time, but there was a lot of people involved and they needed to get the story together. This was your twin sister. So you guys, obviously as sisters, you always have a bond, but twins are kind of special. You have a stronger bond. What do you want people to know about Kayla? Kayla was just a very bold. She was a loving, kind person. She would tell you how it was type of person too but she was very loyal

and protective and she loved her family so so much and yeah she was just an amazing person she was a good athlete and yeah it sounds like you you and your family were really integral in this investigation, too. I mean, you immediately knew something was wrong and contacted law enforcement, and then things unfolded from there. Did you, I mean, you all basically helped solve the case, it sounds like. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we're a very close family. We talk to each other every day.

Kayla, when she wasn't living here, we would FaceTime, text. We were always constantly in contact with each other. So we knew. We knew instantly something was wrong. And I knew it wasn't good. Kayla, they had her phone, and Kayla was someone that had a tight grip on her phone. So we knew instantly that something was wrong. And I actually carried out a conversation with AB all the way up until she was found

and had to play the nice card with him. Wow. So you were basically almost being an investigator your AB as we had mentioned earlier was jakai Keith that was the name the Facebook profile he used online the police say to set up drug deals so jakai Keith and Anthony Barrow AB are the same person um did it surprise you when he kind of, according to the police, gave a different story that somebody named Cash had taken your sister's life and he gave this other story, but now they're saying, no, he indeed was the person who took her life.

I'm not surprised because AB told me that too. And for a split second, I did believe him because everything he told me about where to find Kayla, what happened to Kayla, it all ended up being true. So it just was confusing to me why he would tell me all those details. They could have killed her and just fled and we would have never known where to find her. But he told me where to find her. How terrible.

Well, Sam, I really appreciate you talking with us. Is there anything else that you would like people to know about your sister? She was just a beautiful soul, and she helped a lot of people with their addictions, too. She was just an amazing person. And the world's definitely a darker place without her. I want to bring in retired homicide detective Phil Waters. So, Phil, Vermont State Police are saying that Kayla Wright's body, that she was shot over an issue with drugs or a dispute over drugs and then her body was placed in a toolbox and she's taken a short distance from the house where she's killed in a toolbox and they ditch her body in a river i just can't even imagine

well good morning uh angie and aloha from Hawaii. I will tell you that this is, as much as I hate to say it, this is kind of typical for this type of a homicide, especially when you're involving. You've got a drug transaction that apparently goes wrong here. And the people that are in it are in conflict with one another. At least there's one person, and that's going to be this young woman that was murdered at the scene over dispute. And look, these types of folks, they're going to dispose of the body in all manner of ways that they think is going to be allow authorities to or disallow authorities to recover that body as quickly as possible so that's what they did the problem is that the body was discovered and that the the work of the vermont state police led to the arrest of these uh these three individuals so it's not it's it's kind of atypical is the way i as i it's kind of typical it's the way i look at it uh it's kind of atypical is the way I as it's kind of typical the way I look at it. It's a high risk lifestyle. And this is something that happens a lot.

What I found interesting in here in this case is that police are saying that Ja'Kai Keith, the person they say actually shot Kayla Wright, pointed the finger at somebody else named Cash. I mean, he's telling this story. He told the family members of Kayla Wright that she was dead and somebody else killed her. But then it sounds like it took several months for police to kind of unravel what they believe actually happened because they've now charged keith with her murder so what do you think took so long for them to to charge him do you think that maybe they had to get these other people to cooperate against him maybe the people who owned the house or maybe even his co-defendants who were charged with moving the body um i mean what do you think went on there well this is i no doubt there's interviews of being conducted of these individuals.

And when you have something like this, this is kind of detective work 101 when it comes to several suspects. You play one against the other. I would imagine that the shooter in this case, he knew he'd done it. And so what's the best way to try to give a self-serving statement? I'm sure they interviewed him and he probably gives some sort of self-serving statement. You know, I mean, he may have even had made an admission that I was there, but you know, somebody else did it points the finger to everybody else.

Then you get the other two guys in there and they're getting interviewed. And here's the, here's what you're going to offer to these folks. You're going to say to them, do you want to be a suspect? Do you want to be a witness to a murder? And they've got to make a choice on what they want to do. So they've obviously made the choice that they do not want to be a suspect in the murder, but they're going to be ancillary suspects to what happened afterwards,

disposal of the body, movement of the body, that kind of thing, and that's what they're charged with. So, yeah, these are all about choices among these three crooks, and I would imagine they've also got other links to the shooter that is going to affirm whatever they gleaned from the interviews from the other two suspects. The one thing I thought was interesting is that Keith is accused of shooting and killing Kayla Wright. He's accused, though, and charged with second-degree murder. Second-degree murder rather than first-degree murder. right. He's accused though, and charged with second degree murder, second degree murder, rather than first degree murder. So I, you know, I, the difference may be a lack of intent or

maybe premeditation. I'm not sure. But a second degree murder charge for something so heinous. I'm not, why do you think it was second degree versus first degree? I don't know what the, what the elements are for degrees of murder of homicide in Vermont, but I would, I would have to say that there is something that is the elements there are fit the second degree. So as you know, the aftermath of a murder like this, putting her in the toolbox, transporting her, that kind of thing, those things are, to use your word, those are heinous. I mean, that's horrible of what they did afterwards. But that does not add to the actual act. Does that make sense? It doesn't make the actual act any more terrible than what it was.

So I would imagine that the DAs up there looked at the evidence. So the evidence has to lead you to where you need to be. And it always is a journey for the truth. So if the elements involving that crime were fit, fit under the second degree, then that's what they went with. Now, they may have been able to, you know, if there was one factor that was kind of iffy, they could have charged the first degree, but chose to do the second. So I would imagine that the strength of the case is a stronger second degree felony than it is a first. Bill Waters, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate you joining us. Sure. Thanks for having me back, Anjanette.

And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.