2nd suspect in Troy homicide/home invasion charged
A second suspect has been charged in connection to a March home invasion that ended in a homicide in Troy, police confirmed Wednesday, as William Vernell Jones, 42, was charged with home invasion.
Troy police say investigators learned that Jones allegedly helped the other suspect, Charles Anthony Stephens, 53, gain entry to the apartment where Kalpana Murali-Babu, 37, was killed. Jones was an employee of Somerset Apartments, where Murali-Babu lived, police say.
“Two elementary aged children returned home from school and could not get into their apartment,” Sgt. Meghan Lehman of the Troy Police Department said in March. “The victim did not answer the door or telephone. Another neighbor called for medical assistance after looking through the window and seeing her lying motionless on the floor inside.”
Murali-Babu’s death was ruled a homicide by stabbing by the Oakland County Medical Examiner’s Office, and was the first homicide of the year in Troy, which is Oakland County’s most populous city.
Jones was arraigned in front of Magistrate Clement Waldmann at 52-4 District Court. Bond was set at $250,000 cash-or-surety. Jones is scheduled to appear for a probable cause conference at 8:30 a.m. on May 12 in front of Judge Maureen McGinnis of 52-4 District Court. His preliminary exam is scheduled for May 19 at 10 a.m.
Stephens, a Troy resident, has been charged with felony murder.