Grandma Charged With Murder In Teen's 1998 Death
FLINT (WWJ/AP) - Authorities have charged a 74-year-old Flint woman with murdering her teenage granddaughter 15 years ago.
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced Wednesday that his office has charged Lois Janish with an open count of murder in the death of 14-year-old Coral Hall. Hall disappeared in Sept. 1998 and her body has never been found.
Janish was arraigned on Thursday and ordered held without bond in the Genesee County Jail. She's due back in court on Aug. 6 for a pre-trial hearing.
Leyton spokesman John Potbury said Hall went missing after calling a friend asking for a place to stay, saying she had been fighting with her grandmother. The friend told police that they made plans to meet later, but Hall never showed up. At the time, Hall was living with Janish and Janish's boyfriend, who is now dead.
Flint Detective Sgt. Greg Hosmer told Mlive.com that Janish admitted killing her granddaughter by hitting her in the head with a hammer. Janish allegedly said she and her now-dead boyfriend then dismembered Hall before scattering the remains.
Janish reportedly wrote a letter apologizing for dumping Hall's body and agreed to help authorities search for Hall's remains, according to Hosmer's testimony, but three searches were conducted and no remains were found, Mlive.com reported.
Hosmer said Janish was always a suspect in her granddaughter's disappearance.
"There's never really been any tips. A six-year investigation just led from one name to another," he said. "All of (the grandmother's) statements over the years have been inconsistent. Trying to sort them out just didn't make any sense. We just followed up on all of that."
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