DENVER – Prosecutors in Denver have filed first-degree murder charges against the 16-year-old girl who is accused in the death of 7-year-old Jordan Vong, who was found dead inside his home last week.
The girl, whom prosecutors and police say they are not identifying until the clerk accepts the filed charges, was arrested last Wednesday after Vong’s body was discovered inside his family’s home the night before. She had been held without bond since Thursday for investigation on a first-degree murder charge and had a juvenile court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Contact7 Investigates has confirmed the girl lived in the same house as Vong and his family. The Denver District Attorney's Office additionally confirmed that the girl is Vong's aunt.
She will be charged as an adult after Monday’s filing with first-degree murder after deliberation and first-degree murder by a person in a position of trust (victim under age 12).
Vong had been missing for more than 24 hours when FBI agents and police obtained a warrant to enter his family’s Montbello home last Tuesday. He was first reported missing around 4:30 p.m. Monday.
The 16-year-old girl was arrested the next day after police said they found more evidence while searching overnight after Vong’s body was discovered. Police said his body was “intentionally concealed” but did not elaborate at the time.
However, on Monday, Denver District Attorney's Office spokesman Ken Lane says that Vong's body was discovered wrapped in a blanket and hidden in a portable closet in the girl's basement bedroom.
The Denver Office of the Medical Examiner said Monday it had determined Vong’s manner of death was homicide but said his cause of death was “still pending.”
Contact7 Chief Investigator Tony Kovaleski contributed to this report.
Editor's Note: This story has been been corrected to show that the girl is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, not one count of child abuse and one count of first-degree murder. as was previously reported.