SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An 18-year-old is pleading guilty to rape and murder in the 2015 death of a 12-year-old Utah girl he’s accused of luring from her home with a story about a lost cat.
Jayden Sterzer sits with his attorney, Michael Sikora (Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Jayden Matthew Sterzer pleaded guilty to rape in juvenile court Monday. He was 15 when police say he strangled Kailey Vijil (VIJ’-el) and left her in a horse pasture.
Sterzer also was expected to plead guilty to murder in adult court as part of a blended plea deal that will allow him to stay in a juvenile detention center until he turns 21.
The Associated Press hadn’t previously named Sterzer because he was a minor and his case was being handled entirely in juvenile court.
He was found fit for trial after getting treatment for unspecified mental disorders and intellectual disabilities.
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