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May 30, 2024

Four people charged in connection to death of Alma Matias

Next up in 5 Example video title will go here for this video KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Four people are in custody following an investigation into the death of 23-year-old Alma Matias. Her body was located on

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Four people are in custody following an investigation into the death of 23-year-old Alma Matias. Her body was located on July 30 by a jogger near the Cove at Concord Park off Northshore Drive in West Knox County.

According to KCSO reports pieced together by 10News, Matias' timeline for her death started on July 29 around 5:30 p.m. According to the KCSO incident reports, video surveillance shows Matias pulling into the Ridgebrook Apartment complex in Mechanicsville. KCSO reports say the video also shows Matias entering an apartment.

According to the report, "She does at one point go back to her vehicle and comes back to the apartment. She is not seen again leaving the apartment."

KCSO reports say video surveillance shows several people are seen leaving the premises and coming back, driving Matias' car.

Around 10:20 p.m., reports say a woman identified as Jaquaysjha Ryans moved Matias' car to the side of the complex. Ryans is also the leaseholder of the apartment.

A few hours later, three people came out of the apartment, according to the video surveillance, with something very large wrapped up in a blanket. They placed it in the backseat, the report says.

Around 4 a.m. on July 30, reports say license plate readers flagged Matias' car driving down Merchant's Road near I-75. They identified Jason Lamont Young as the driver, with Matias nowhere to be seen.

Behind Young, the report said Rontrell Allen was following him in a white Honda.

Both cars pulled into Casey's gas station off Merchants. At that point, video surveillance from the gas station shows Young entering the gas station, paying the clerk and filling a red gas can.

KCSO said cyber investigators identified Young and Allen through facial recognition software.

Both cars left Casey's within 10 minutes and are reported to have headed northbound on I-75.

Around 4:30 a.m., KCSO was called to the corner of Heiskell Avenue and Windstone Boulevard, with reports of a car fire. The car on fire belonged to Matias. The gas can, purchased by Young at the Casey's was positioned next to Matias' burning car, KCSO reports said.

Deputies arrested Allen, who initially said he was home that night. However, after deputies revealed video surveillance, he admitted to chatting with Young that evening. Allen will be seen in court as soon as Aug. 23.

Deputies also arrested Young for arson and theft of property ($10,000- $60,000) for stealing Matias' car. However, KCSO tells us the judge set his bond at $25,000, and Young bonded out.

Alma Matias' body was located around 8:30 a.m. on July 30 near Concord Greenway off South Northshore Drive. A jogger found the body wrapped in a blanket, said KCSO. Investigators later revealed in the reports that it appeared to be the same body three people carried out of the Ridgebrook Apartment the evening prior.

Deputies were able to ping Matias' phone at the Ridgebrook Apartments in Mechanicsville. Then, more details began to emerge.

On Aug. 2, KCSO detectives said they went to the apartment complex to serve a search warrant. In the report, KCSO said the residents moved out prior to deputies arriving with the warrant. Therefore, the apartment was empty.

KSCO said a family connection helped track down the former lease-holder, Jaquaysjha Ryans, and her boyfriend, Tyrone Mack. The family connection allegedly told deputies that the couple rented a U-Haul for the move. KCSO confirmed with U-Haul and received copies of that paperwork. The suspects, Ryans and Mack moved out on July 31, just one day after the death of Matias.

KCSO said they were able to place Ryans and Mack under arrest. At that point, the two shared what happened on the night of July 29.

The KCSO report said, "Ryans stated she was in the kitchen... she then heard several shots, saw Alma on the ground just outside the bedroom doors, and Jason Young had a gun in his hand."

Mack also told authorities he saw Young with a gun in his hand. Then, Mack and Ryans helped move Matias' body into the car, according to KCSO reports and video surveillance.

"Jaquaysjha Ryans and Tyrone Mack begin the next few hours cleaning the apartment and removing evidence by placing items in their vehicles... they displaced those items at a storage facility in Knox county," the report said.

Ryans was booked on Aug. 5 with three felony charges for abuse of a corpse, accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence. Her court date has not been set.

Mack was booked on Aug. 5 with three felony charges for abuse of a corpse, accessory after the fact and tampering with evidence. His court date has also not been set.

Due to the information discovered through the investigation, KCSO placed a criminal arrest warrant for first-degree murder for Jason Lamont Young. They considered him armed and dangerous.

Within about six hours, Young turned himself into the Roger D. Wilson Detention Facility.

Young will appear in court as early as Monday, Aug. 7.

This story is developing and we will update as we learn more.