LEXINGTON, S.C. — A woman has been convicted of kidnapping and killing Columbia teen Sanaa Amenhotep after a week-long trial.
A jury returned a guilty verdict against Nicolle Sanchez-Peralta Tuesday afternoon after a brief deliberation. Sanchez-Peralta did not testify in her own defense.
Sanchez-Peralta was one of three suspects charged with killing Amenhotep in April of 2021. The other two, Treveon Nelson and Jaylen Wilson, chose not to go to trial, with Nelson pleading guilty earlier this month while Wilson plead guilty on Monday.
According to prosecutors and law enforcement, the trio lured Amenhotep, who was just 15-years-old, out of her home on the night of the killing. They then were accused of shooting her to death and burying her body in a shallow grave in a wooded area off Interstate 20 in Lexington County.
Amenhotep had originally been reported as missing to law enforcement in Richland County.
Sanchez-Peralta plead not guilty to the charges. She maintained she was pressured to go with the other suspects to the site of the killing but was not responsible for Sanaa's death. Her attorney tried to claim Nelson abused her and that's what she went along with the other suspects.
But the state was able to successfully claim that she was a willing participant.
Sentencing for all three is expected to take place in a few weeks.