Kayla Wright. PHOTO: KAYLA WRIGHT FACEBOOK
Three men are facing charges related to the death of Kayla Wright, a Vermont woman whose body was discovered in a toolbox in February. Vermont State Police were alerted to a dead body in a container on a sandbar in the Missisquoi River on February 6. The next day, the body was identified as 29-year-old Kayla Wright, who had been reported missing days earlier.
According to police, a medical examiner determined that Wright had been shot in the head. Five months after her death, charges were announced against three men. State police allege that 24-year-old Jakiy Tramaine Corey Keith shot Wright multiple times in Troy, Vermont, due to a drug trafficking dispute. The specifics of the dispute have not been disclosed.
In addition to Keith, Aaron Camp, 34, and Terron Pendleton, 34, are accused of assisting Keith in cleaning the crime scene. Keith and Camp then allegedly disposed of Wright’s body in a “large toolbox,” state police reported.
A judge has approved an arrest warrant for Keith on a charge of first-degree murder. State police noted that he has been in custody since February on federal drug charges. The camp has been charged with unauthorized burial or removal of a body and accessory after the fact to murder. Pendleton faces the same accessory charge.
It remains unclear if any of the suspects have entered pleas or retained attorneys. Due to Keith’s ongoing federal custody, the timing of his arraignment on the murder charge has not yet been determined. Wright’s sister, Samantha Perkins, expressed her grief in an interview with WCAX after her body was found. “She was just… my person, my best friend,” she said. “I love her and miss her.”
This tragic case underscores the severe impact of drug-related violence and the profound loss experienced by families affected by such crimes. As the legal proceedings unfold, the community will be watching closely, hoping for justice for Kayla Wright and her family.
