Murder and Arson Counts Filed in Dual Slaying

Prosecutors filed murder and arson charges Tuesday against a 19-year-old woman suspected of killing a Lemon Heights man and his mother before setting fire to their mansion.

Tynickia Sherikia Thompson, who is scheduled to be arraigned today, could face the death penalty under a multiple-murder special circumstance provision. Prosecutor Carolyn Kirkwood said the district attorney’s office has not decided whether to pursue the death penalty if Thompson is found guilty.

Authorities have said Thompson was seen at the home of John Tyler Hancock, 49, a day before he and his 77-year-old mother, Helen Hancock, were found shot and strangled on May 8. Their rented, 4,200-square-foot home was scorched, and both of their bodies were severely burned, sheriff’s deputies said at the time.

Thompson, who graduated from Western High School in Anaheim last year, was arrested in a parking lot several blocks from her alma mater Friday evening.

At Western High on Tuesday, counselors and other officials were shocked by news of the murder charges.

“We were looking through her records to make sure . . . because we couldn’t believe it,” said Assistant Principal Kathyrn Arce. Arce said she could not release details on Thompson’s school records. Thompson, who was not photographed for the school’s yearbook, attended the school only as a senior, Arce said.

School officials said they didn’t know much about her.

Neighbors of Thompson remembered her as a friendly woman who often said “Hi” to passersby.

Thompson was introduced to Hancock by his ex-girlfriend, Kimberly Wakefield, in January and might have received large sums of cash from him, Wakefield said in an earlier interview. Wakefield and Thompson had been neighbors at the Sunset Plaza Apartments at Ball Road and Dale Street.

The teenager and her mother lived together and were having financial problems, possibly leading to their eviction from the complex earlier this year, according to Wakefield and an apartment manager. Wakefield said Thompson had flaunted wads of cash and had told her the money was from Hancock.

Sheriff’s deputies would not comment on the relationship between Thompson and Hancock, but a neighbor said the teenager had referred to the businessman as her boyfriend. Wakefield, who had broken up with Hancock in March or early April, said in the interview that she believed Thompson was being paid to spy on her.

Investigators would not confirm or deny that theory Tuesday.

Hancock once ran a Newport Beach telephone-answering service and led a plush life.

But court records showed a murkier side of the businessman. In 1977, Hancock was convicted of assault and price fixing. He was convicted in 1987 of swindling lenders and was being investigated on suspicion of credit card fraud at the time of his death.

Detectives have said a financial dispute might have triggered the slayings, which sent chills through the upscale neighborhood.

Investigators declined to comment on what led to the arrest of Thompson and whether a murder weapon was found. Detectives were still interviewing witnesses Tuesday and preparing photo lineups for the case, said Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson. “We have to be extraordinarily careful because we don’t want to jeopardize the case.”

Thompson was being held at the Orange County Jail without bail.