Mother Charged with Murder of 9-Year-Old Daughter Trinity Who Was Found Dead in Duffel Bag

The mother of nine-year-old Trinity Love Jones, whose body was found in a duffel bag around a California horse trail earlier this month, has been arrested on suspicion of her daughter’s murder.

According to CBS affiliate, KCAL, the mother, 28-year-old Taquesta Graham, was on Monday booked as the second suspect in the killing of her child. Her boyfriend, Emiel Hunt, 38, is the first suspect.

ARRESTING THE SUSPECTS

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department stated that Graham was extradited on March 14 to Los Angeles from Texas where she had been held on an “unrelated warrant.”

Graham’s Texas arrest occurred on March 8, three days after Jones’ body was found in the duffel bag. Graham and Hunt were pulled over at a border patrol checkpoint in Hudspeth County, Texas and while officers remanded her, Hunt was released.

Hunt drove back to California and was later arrested in connection with Jones’ murder after he was found sleeping in his SUV at a location close to the San Diego International Airport on March 9, the outlet reports.

SEEKING JUSTICE

PEOPLE further reports that the sheriff’s department revealed Hunt previously went to jail for a child abuse conviction and is now being charged with Jones’ murder, a crime that could earn him up to 50 years or life in state prison. Hunt’s arraignment has been slated for April 16, and he remains in custody until he can post his $2 million bail.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office will reportedly file charges for Graham, a registered sex offender, on Wednesday, after which she is expected to be arraigned.

THE BRUTAL MURDER

Jones’ body was found around mid-morning on March 5, stuffed halfway into a duffel bag and abandoned at the bottom of an embankment around Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles.

Homicide detectives investigating the case believe that the body was dumped at that location on March 1, and even though the death has been ruled as a homicide, the cause of death remains unknown, says the sheriff’s department.

MOURNING TRINITY LOVE JONES

Jones’s extended family members, who had limited contact with her in the past ten months, are still distraught over the little girl’s horrific death.

Per PEOPLE, the Sheriff’s department said in a statement:

“During the past ten months the extended family had only seen or heard from the couple and Trinity on a few occasions. Investigators have learned Hunt, Graham and Trinity were homeless just prior to her death and were residing in a Santa Fe Springs motel or in their vehicle.”

HER FATHER'S PAIN

“Trinity was our princess,” Jones’ cousin, Sytrice Oldham-Edmond, lamented. “My family and I are devastated about losing her.”

“She didn’t deserve any of this. She didn’t deserve to be tossed out like trash,” Oldham-Edmond added. “Trinity will be greatly missed.”

Jones’ father is also still mourning his daughter, who he described to The Los Angeles Times as “fun, loving, big heart(ed), bubbly.”

“Little girl could’ve been whatever she wanted to be in life,” he added.