Two suspects arrested in Pender County murder

PENDER COUNTY -- Wilmington Police and New Hanover County Sheriff's deputies captured a man and a woman Saturday on the Isabel Holmes Bridge ramp. Residents tipped authorities off to the two suspects, helping law enforcement find their marks. The alleged murder happened in a trailer in the Creekside mobile home park on Highway 117, a little more than a mile past the Pender/New Hanover County line. Pender County Sheriff Carson Smith said, "About noon on Saturday the Sheriff's office received a call about a possible homicide that had occurred here at Creekside estates." Witnesses say they called 911 after the suspect showed the body to a teenage neighbor. That's when a cross-county chase to catch the suspects began. "It was at that point that they developed some leads real quickly about two suspects that had possibly just left the area, with some information gathered by neighbors and other folks around here," Smith said. Two suspects are in custody. Wilmington Police and New Hanover Sheriff's deputies stopped and arrested 35-year-old Derrick Shane Todd. He's charged with first-degree murder. Also arrested was 30-year-old Tonia Bordeaux Kemp. She is charged with accessory after the fact. Investigators say they still aren't sure of the relationship between the suspects and victim. Officials are still working to identify the body. Smith said, "We're 95 percent sure we know who it is through talking with family members of the potential ID we had." We do know that the victim in this murder is a woman around 30 years old. But Sheriff Smith says there is still a lot of work to be done. This is the first murder case in Pender County since 2005. Neighbors say Derrick Shane Todd and Tonia Bordeaux Kemp have been living in the Creekwood mobile home park for about six months. A medical examiner says the victim was strangled to death.