Nearly eighteen years after a bag filled with dismembered human remains was found burning along a Georgia roadside, prosecutors have charged the woman long suspected in the killing with murder.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis announced Wednesday that 48-year-old Angel Marie Thompson now faces charges in the death of her 24-year-old girlfriend, Nicole Alston. Thompson had previously been accused of concealing Alston’s death and stealing her identity, but until now had not been directly charged with the killing.
“This case involves what are just horrific facts,” Willis said, calling it one of the most gruesome she’s encountered in nearly three decades as a prosecutor.
The murder warrant was issued on the day Alston’s partial remains were discovered in Troup County, Georgia. On December 6, 2007 authorities found Alston’s partial remains inside a burning black bag. Her extremities were missing. Due to the inability to identify the remains the case went cold for years, but in 2023 DNA testing confirmed that the remains belonged to Alston. Investigators determined that she had left New York in 2007 with Thompson, her girlfriend, to start a new life in Atlanta. Just 10 days before her death, Alston called her mother, saying Thompson had become abusive and that she wanted to come home.
“She didn’t deserve this,” said her mother, Sylvia Alston, who spoke through tears at Wednesday’s press conference. “I wish I’d never let her come to Georgia.” She described her daughter as bubbly, artistic, and deeply trusting — qualities she believes were exploited by Thompson.
Prosecutors allege that after Alston’s death, Thompson assumed her identity, collecting more than $200,000 in government benefits and using her name for housing and services until 2015. When the Social Security Administration attempted to re-qualify Alston for benefits, Thompson resumed using her own name.
In August 2024, Thompson was charged with concealing the death and committing years of identity fraud. But it wasn’t until this week that prosecutors connected her to the murder, citing new evidence and witness statements.
Authorities also revealed that on the night Alston’s body was found, Thompson was active on dating websites. A month later, she was reportedly trying to rent their shared apartment and sell their car.
Willis said her office expects to secure an indictment by the end of October, which will include charges of murder, human trafficking, and domestic violence. She also suggested there may be other victims and urged anyone with information to come forward.
Thompson is being held at the Fulton County Jail without bond.
“They deserve some finality,” said Troup County investigator Clay Bryant. “They deserve the truth, and we’re just lucky enough to find some facts to learn what happened to Nicole.”
