Man charged with murder of Indiana teenage girl

(Reuters) - A prosecutor charged a man with murder on Friday in the death of a teenage girl whose bound and partially burned body was found in an Indianapolis homeowner's backyard in August. William Gholston, 46, was charged with killing Dominique Allen, 15, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said in a news release. The cause of death was asphyxiation, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Allen's body was found “hog-tied” around her neck and ankles with coaxial cord, the affidavit said. She had a plastic bag over her head and had been set on fire, the affidavit said. Allen was reported missing by her father on Aug. 31 and her body was found later that day by a homeowner after letting his dog out in the backyard, the affidavit said. The homeowner called police and was not a suspect, authorities said. Allen had been walking around the neighborhood with friends earlier that day and was last seen at a residence near where her body was found, according to the affidavit. There is no explanation for how the body ended up in the homeowner's yard. Her purse and shoes were found about a block away, police said at the time. Investigators found DNA matching Gholston's on Allen's foot and hand and on a shoe thought to have been worn by her when she disappeared, Curry said. The affidavit did not specify if Gholston and Allen were acquainted but said that in an interview Gholston said he did not know her. Gholston is being held the Marion County Jail on an unrelated matter and will appear in court on the murder charge, Curry said. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Missouri; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Bill Trott)