Document: Suspects arrested at mall kidnapped woman, created backpage.com ad to prostitute victim

The man and woman arrested at Cielo Vista Mall this past weekend are accused of kidnapping a woman in Houston and creating a backpage.com advertisement with the goal of prostituting the woman, court documents state.

State police officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety arrested Mikhail Jordan King, 27; and Keinangela Evans, 18, July 15, 2017 and charged them with “human trafficking for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct.”

Court documents state the accuser, a 22-year-old woman, called 911 at 2:00 am that day to report she was being kidnapped. “Due to poor cellular service, the phone call was disconnected,” court documents state.

After several failed attempts, an operator with DPS was able to communicate with the accuser via text messages. State troopers located the accuser at Cielo Vista Mall and took the two suspects into custody.

During an interview, the accuser told investigators she met King and Evans in Houston on July 14, 2017. The accuser said she was under the influence of marijuana and fell asleep at Evans’ home.

When she woke up, the accuser realized she was in Junction, Texas and demanded King and Evans take her back home.

King and Evans allegedly laughed and ignored the accuser’s request. “No. I’m not (taking you back), you got in the car and now you’re part of the team,” King allegedly told the accuser, per court documents.

After getting conflicting stories from the accuser and the suspects, investigators conducted an “analytical search” on backpage.com that allegedly turned up an advertisement titled “Sensual limber Ebony babe – 20″ post ID#14466773,” court documents state.

The phone number listed on the backpage.com ad was the accuser’s phone number, court documents state. Investigators identified the accuser as the woman listed in the backpage.com ad.

The accuser told investigators she did not create the ad on backpage.com. Investigators, with the help of information from the accuser’s cell phone company and email provider, determined the accuser was telling the truth about not creating or posting the ad.

The court document states, “King and Evans knowingly trafficked and transported (the accuser) through force, fraud and coercion … Investigators have corroborating information King and Evans did in fact kidnap and create a backpage ad for the purpose of trafficking (the accuser).”