Ahmeel Fowler Charged In Murder Of Jan’ya Murphy & 1-Year-Old Jaclyn ‘Angel’ Dobbs, ‘They had a previous relationship’

Ahmeel Fowler, 26, of Pingree Grove has been charged in the homicide of Ja’nya Murphy – a young mother who was found dead in Wheeling earlier this week.

Ahmeel was identified as a person of interest early in the investigation and was arrested after the request of Wheeling police in Springfield, Missouri on Wednesday evening.

1-year-old Jaclyn “Angel” Dobbs‘s body was found in a retention pond in Hammond, Indiana. Fowler has not been charged in Jaclyn’s death.

Wheeling police said additional charges are expected.

Wheeling police extended his deepest condolences to the family of Ja’nya and Angel in a news release, “Wheeling Chief of Police Jamie Dunne wishes to extend his deepest condolences to the family of Ja’nya and Angel, who lost two very special loved ones and in spite of their grief provided much assistance to the investigation,”

Officers received a missing person report for Murphy, 21, around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday – after she hadn’t shown up to work or contacted her family since Monday. Police said.

When cops went to Murphy’s house to check on him, they discovered the door unlocked and Murphy dead inside. Jaclyn had gone missing, according to the police.

Police said they believe Murphy was strangled, and that Jaclyn was taken away in a maroon 2020 Dodge Grand Caravan with Illinois license plate FP139293. The vehicle was later located in western Missouri, but Jaclyn was not with the vehicle and was believed to be in danger.

Based on video evidence, Police and investigators identified Fowler as the person of interest.

Wheeling police he had a “previous relationship with Ms. Murphy” but is not Jaclyn’s father. Three were last seen together on Monday at a suburban shopping mall.

 Jaclyn’s body was found on Thursday. “They saw what they believed to be a body floating in the water and they did the appropriate thing and called 911 immediately and 911 dispatch the fire department, which is standard protocol for something like that,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Glen Fifield said.

“and they went immediately into the water and recovered the body.”