One of two defendants has pleaded guilty in the death of Sarah Stern, a 19-year-old New Jersey student who was allegedly robbed, killed and then dumped over a bridge last year, prosecutors said Monday.
Preston Taylor entered a plea to seven counts, including robbery and tampering with physical evidence. He also agreed to testify again his codefendant Liam McAtasney, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office said on Twitter.
A grand jury has now indicted McAtasney on seven counts, including first-degree murder, the prosecutor's office said Monday afternoon. He faces life without parole if convicted.
Stern's body has not been found. According to prosecutors, McAtasney strangled the young woman in the course of committing a robbery at her Neptune City home Dec. 2.
Taylor allegedly helped McAtasney get Stern's body out of the house and throw her over the Route 35 Bridge in Belmar.
Taylor faces up to 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Stern, an aspiring artist, was a graduate of Neptune High School, where she played softball and was a member of the swim team. She went to Brookdale Community College for a year, where she studied art and TV production.
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Prosecutors have said McAtasney was motivated by robbery in part and stole thousands of dollars from Stern. Cash was found in a safe buried at a park in Neptune. Stern's clothing was found in another safe buried on Sandy Hook.
At a court hearing in February, prosecutors said Taylor -- who took Stern to junior prom -- told police McAtasney had planned Stern's slaying for six months.
