Michael L. Perry III, Lynchburg,, Virginia man arrested in the murder of Avriel Hooks, a week after the missing mom first disappeared. Suspect id as father of deceased woman’s five month old son.
A missing Virginia mother has been found deceased following her disappearance last week, with cops arresting the father of her child and charging the man with murder.
Lynchburg Police Department confirmed missing 20-year-old Avriel Hooks was murdered. After an extensive search Tuesday afternoon, her body was found in a wooded area in Amherst County.
Arrested and charged with her murder was, Michael L. Perry III, 21 of Lynchburg, with the man booked with second degree murder and unlawful disposal of a dead body. Hook’s family says Perry is the father of their five-month-old son.
Suspicious text message
‘I’m still kind of coping a little bit; it’s hard to even… I mean I’m more worried for my mom, to be honest, than myself. Because at the end of the day, everyone grieves at their own pace,’ Hook’s sister Lydia Page told wdbj7.
Avriel Hooks was reported missing August 23, after her family hadn’t heard from her the day prior. The following day, they received a text message from her phone circa 6am but didn’t seem like it was sent from Hook.
The text said she wanted some ‘me time’ and that she was at a friend’s house. It rung alarm bells for the family, who said this was not Hooks’ way of writing or speaking.
The child was found on its own at her residence unattended.
The discovery of Hooks body comes one week after her mother drove her daughter home, not knowing it would be the last time she would see her.
‘If you’re in an abusive situation, don’t let him think… or her – don’t let anyone, make you think people don’t care… no one cares about you,’ her mother Ashley Pittman said. ‘It’s the biggest lie they could ever tell you. There are so many people that care.’
‘You can make it right. You can change anything.’
Pittman says becoming a mother was Hooks’ greatest achievement. The love for her young son inspired Hooks to turn her life around, the mother said. Pittman wants her daughter to be an example for other women.
‘It didn’t matter about her mistakes,’ added Pittman. ‘You can make it right. You can change anything.’
Family and friends are now collecting diapers and clothing for the baby infant which can be dropped off at 1820 Florida Ave. in Lynchburg.
No known murder motive was immediately known.
