It took nearly 16 years for Georgia investigators to piece together the chilling story of how a young woman’s life was cut short after her dismembered body was discovered.
Victim’s identifying parts never found amongst dismembered body
Authorities say Angel Thompson, now facing murder charges, slaughtered her girlfriend, 24-year-old Nicole Alston, then hacked her into 13 separate pieces before setting part of her remains on fire at a street corner.
According to police, the victim’s head, hands, and feet have never been found.
“This case involves what are just horrific facts,” Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told reporters during a Wednesday press conference announcing Thompson’s arrest for malice murder.
The charges come after years of uncertainty over who killed Alston.
The horror began on Dec. 6, 2007, when Troup County deputies were called to a fire at the corner of Whitfield Road and Stitcher Road in Hogansville.
Inside a burning black bag, investigators uncovered Alston’s torso along with other body parts.
Law enforcement suspected the victim was killed elsewhere and dumped in Troup County, according to Sgt. Stewart Smith of the Troup County Sheriff’s Office.
“We don’t believe the actual homicide took place in Troup County,” he said. “We believe it took place somewhere else, and it was just discarded there on the side of the road.”
“When they found her body, it was cut,” Willis said. “They found 13 pieces of her body, but they were not able to identify her.”
“The reason that they were not able to identify her is because, until this day, we still have not been able to find her hands, her feet, or her head,” Willis added.
Dismembered body case goes cold for nearly two decades
For years, the case went cold. Then in 2023, investigators revisited the evidence, sending DNA samples to forensic labs in Virginia and Texas.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation later confirmed the remains matched Alston, who had moved from Manhattan to Georgia in hopes of building a new life.According to authorities, Alston and Thompson shared a home at 9100 Cascade Palmetto Highway.
But prosecutors say the relationship soured, with Alston, who was allegedly the main breadwinner confiding to her mother that Thompson had grown “abusive.”
“She wanted to come home … but said she had it under control,” Willis said. “That was her last phone call.”
The last time the family had any contact with Alston was that Thanksgiving, which was two weeks before police found the bag of burning remains.
Willis described the crime as a textbook example of domestic violence.
“The young lady was basically not going to allow both her lover — and I hate to say such a nasty term — but really ‘cash cow,’ the person that was bringing her money, to go,” she said. “And it ended tragically.”
Thompson’s legal troubles didn’t stop at the killing. Just weeks after Alston’s disappearance, prosecutors say she began using the victim’s identity.
Investigators claim she tried selling Alston’s car, rented out her apartment, and even created fake email and bank accounts in her name.
A Fulton County detective revealed that while Alston’s dismembered body remained unidentified, Thompson “was already on dating websites, trying to meet people, rent the room, sell the car.”
“She did it very well and I believe did it alone,” the detective added. “Which is why it took so long to get where we are.”
Accused murderer stole nearly $150,000
The alleged fraud was extensive, and authorities say Thompson siphoned nearly $140,000 over eight years using Alston’s identity.
The theft included more than $60,000 in Social Security payments, $17,000 in food stamps, and roughly $60,000 in HUD housing assistance.
She only stopped when the Social Security Administration required that Alston, who was long dead, requalify to keep receiving payments.
“Immediately after this young lady went missing and we now know is deceased, the suspect was trying to recruit other victims,” Willis said. “We believe this ties directly to trafficking other women.”
Thompson had already been arrested in August 2023 for concealing Alston’s death, but murder charges were not filed until this week.
Officials have not publicly explained what new evidence triggered the upgraded charges, though they noted a paper trail of stolen identity activity.
At the time of Alston’s killing, Thompson allegedly had open warrants in New York and feared returning there.
Prosecutors suggest she may have been motivated not only by jealousy and control but by the financial lifeline Alston provided.
“It’s beyond the pale of what it took to do this,” a police official said at the press conference. “It took a true sociopath.”
Willis, a veteran prosecutor with nearly three decades in criminal law, told reporters the case stands out.
“This is by far one of the top three most gruesome cases,” she said. “As her mother said, Nicole was taken advantage of … And she did not deserve this.”
