Man charged with murder 15 years after woman's body found in car trunk

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A man has been formally charged with the murder of a 29-year-old woman that happened in 2004 in Charlotte, police announced Monday.

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Anthony Aikens, 53, was charged Friday after he was extradited from a New York prison where he served 15 years on an unrelated manslaughter charge.

(Anthony Aikens)

On July 4, 2004, the body of Mai Edwina Cooper was found in a trunk of an abandoned vehicle, CMPD said.

In 2016, CMPD detectives identified Aikens as the suspect in the murder case, and they obtained warrants for his arrest. After completing his sentence in New York, Aikens was arrested and brought back to Charlotte on Nov. 1 to face the murder charge.

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Cox Media Group