The DeKalb County teacher accused of killing his boyfriend, then dying in a crash while fleeing was already in trouble with police. Roy McClendon-Thompson was arrested three weeks ago for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from his church, according to an Atlanta police report.
McClendon-Thompson, 42, taught social studies at McNair High School and previously worked part-time as a chief financial officer for Tabernacle Baptist Church in Atlanta. Last year, a church secretary reported to police that between November 2015 and last April, McClendon-Thompson made multiple withdrawals from the church account and deposited the money into personal accounts, the police report states.
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The amount McClendon-Thompson allegedly embezzled from the church totaled $103,843.30, the church secretary told police. An arrest warrant was later issued for McClendon-Thompson charging him with theft by taking and financial transaction card theft.
Gerald Griggs, McClendon-Thompson’s close friend and attorney, told WSB Radio that the teacher did not steal the money. Griggs said bank statements would show McClendon-Thompson was innocent.
McClendon-Thompson was booked into the Fulton County jail March 21, records showed, and was released two days later after posting $15,000 bond. He had a court appearance Friday.
But on Monday, McClendon-Thompson allegedly drove to the Dunwoody apartment complex where a man he had been dating lived. In the parking deck, he shot and killed James Curtis Jones, according to Dunwoody police. Jones was 45.
Investigators identified McClendon-Thompson as the suspect and went to his Ellenwood home. But he allegedly fled, and in Clayton County, he was killed in a head-on crash, investigators said.
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