High School Student Confesses To Triple Homicide

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William Angel, age 18, has been charged with three counts of first degree homicide.

Desere Thornton and her two boys.

Desere Thornton holding one of her sons.

When firefighters arrived on scene, the home and a nearby vehicle were fully engulfed in flames.

PULASKI, Tenn. - A high school student has been arrested for the gruesome murder of a Giles County mother and her two children. The family was found dead inside their burned home early Friday morning.

William Angel, age 18, was arrested and held without bond Friday night. Giles County Sheriff Kyle Helton said Angel was questioned - and confessed to being involved in the homicides.

"He has admitted to being a part of this, and has cooperated with the investigators today - throughout the investigation," said Sheriff Helton.

Neighbors called emergency dispatch around 1:30 a.m. Friday after hearing an explosion at a home on Milky Way Drive in Pulaski. Firefighters arrived on the scene to find a double-wide mobile home and a vehicle fully engulfed in flames.

After putting out the blaze, firefighters searched the remains of the home and found three bodies. The bodies were identified as 38-year-old Desere Thornton, 16-year-old Jerrod Thornton and 9-year-old Anthony Thornton.

The Thorntons had only lived at the home for about a month. They were in the process of remodeling.

Angel and Jerrod Thornton were both students at Richland High School in Lynnville, Tennessee.

Officials said William Angel and another suspect, who investigators did not name, used gasolene to start the fire.

A nearby propane tank added to the fire but did not explode.

Angel was charged with three counts of first degree homicide. Investigators said search warrants were being executed - and more charges and arrests are likely.

"It's been a shock. It's a small county. Most everybody knows each other, and it's just a shock that somebody would commit such a heinuos crime," said Sheriff Helton.

Sheriff Helton said he hoped to share more details of the investigation in the coming days as the case develops.

Angel is expected to appear in court next week.

News of the deaths have been hard on Giles County residents.

"It hits the community hard. We're kind of close knit, especially in different parts of the county. To have small children involved... this hurts everybody," said Chief Deputy Tommy Chapman with the Giles County Sheriff's Office.

"I've known those boys almost all their lives," said family friend Robert Rochester. "That's just a terrible way for a family to go."

Giles County Fire Marshall Barry White said the victims' bodies were transported to the medical examiner's office in Nashville to determine an exact cause of death.

Desere Thornton owned a gym, where a wreath was hung Friday afternoon in her memory.

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