A couple has been charged with murdering a pregnant North Carolina mother of two who was found stuffed in a suitcase near a river last week, authorities said.
Thomas Johnson, 37, and Emmalei Trevathan, 24, were arrested in the slaying of Brittany Samone Smith during a traffic stop in Raleigh on Wednesday, according to the Wake County Sheriff’s Office.
Authorities didn’t say what led to their arrests.
They have both been charged with murder, murder of an unborn child and concealment of a body.
Smith was reported missing on Feb. 4; on Monday, authorities discovered a body stuffed in a suitcase near the Neuse River in Raleigh.
The medical examiner’s office determined the body belongs to Smith.
Smith — who already had two children — was six months pregnant with a baby boy at the time of her death, WNCN-TV reported.
“No one deserves to die like that,” friend Dale Williams told the outlet. “Frightened, in pain, and alone.”
Johnson and Trevathan are being held at the Wake County Detention Center without bond.