BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Authorities last week arrested three people in their investigation into the killing of Kayla Wright. The 29-year-old Derby woman’s body was found in a container on the Missisquoi River. All three people are facing drug charges but so far no one has been charged in her killing. Now, Wright’s family is demanding justice.
“She was just… my person, my best friend. I love her and miss her,” said Samantha Perkins, Wright’s sister.
According to the Vermont State Police, Wright’s body was found in a toolbox on a sandbar in the Missisquoi River in Troy. She died of a gunshot wound to the head.
“I think we all kind of knew she was gone before she was actually found. The days going on and the days going on, and time is going on and I’m going to have a baby soon, too. Just her not being there and being a part of it kills me,” Perkins said.
The investigation began with a missing person’s report on February 2. Nearly a week later, a ping of Wright’s cell phone led police to a home on Route 100 in Troy.. Court documents show the home belongs to Bryanna and Thomas Rooney and that Wright spent time there and was involved with drugs.
“She didn’t hang out at this house. Her only thing was she’d go there, get what she needed, and leave,” Perkins said. Her sister shared one of her last Facebook conversations with Wright. In those messages, Wright apologized to her family for her struggle with addiction. “She was always trying to be better and stay away from it for the most part. It’s just too bad that she wasn’t able to leave. She was going to be gone for a 90-day program. She was going to try to get into a sober living somewhere and I think that was her last go for it.”
Perkins says in the days following that conversation with her sister, the text messages changed drastically. “These people started texting us off of Kayla’s cell phone, pretending to be her. They said ‘I’m not coming home, I’m not going to rehab, and don’t look for me.’ The last message they sent me was, ‘You’re right, I killed her.’
Federal court documents show a third person, Jakiy Tramaine Corey Keith, also known as AB, had been sending messages to the family over Facebook stating a kid named Kash shot Wright and disposed of her body.
All three suspects were arrested on federal drug charges but it’s still not clear who pulled the trigger. Perkins says she wants to see those responsible for her sister’s death to be held accountable.
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