Teen accused in sergeant's death rejects plea deal


2 photos
Save Story

Show 1 more video

Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

PROVO — The woman charged in the death of a Utah County sheriff's sergeant has rejected a plea deal.

Meagan Grunwald, 18, was charged as an adult with aggravated murder in the death of Sgt. Cory Wride. She rejected the plea deal during a pretrial hearing Monday and will head to trial in February.

The plea offer was first degree murder and third degree aggravated assault. The sentences would have run together with a recommendation of 15 years in prison.

Grunwald's attorney Dean Zabriskie said 15 years is too much for the teen who continues to assert she too was a victim of her boyfriend's violent crime spree. Zabriskie said there was also concern the Board of Pardons would not release her at 15 years, the minimum time.

"There were other things we were considering that were of equal importance, but accepting that offer, which is a substantial step down from what she is facing, was never really an option," he said.

Grunwald, who was 17 years old at the time of Wride's death, was charged as an adult with several felonies for her part in the Jan. 30 chase and shootings that spanned three crime scenes, left Wride dead and injured Utah County sheriff's deputy Greg Sherwood.

Grunwald was 17 years old when she and her boyfriend, Jose Angel Garcia-Juaregui, 27, led police on a Jan. 30 crime spree that started with the shooting death of Wride in Eagle Mountain and the shooting of Utah County Sheriff's deputy Greg Sherwood in Santaquin. That was followed by an alleged carjacking in Nephi, and shooting at pursuing officers on I-15 before Garcia-Juaregui was killed in a final shootout with police on I-15 south of Nephi.


There were other things we were considering that were of equal importance, but accepting that offer, which is a substantial step down from what she is facing, was never really an option.

–Dean Zabriskie, Grunwald's attorney


Although prosecutors say Garcia-Juaregui fired all of the shots, they contend that Grunwald was a willing participant who was behind the wheel and continued to follow her boyfriend even when she had the chance to run from him.

She is charged as an adult with aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and aggravated robbery — all first-degree felonies.

Grunwald is also charged with criminal mischief, a second-degree felony; two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, possession or use of a controlled substance, and failure to respond at the command of police, all third-degree felonies; criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor; and violation of operator duties for an accident involving property damage, a class B misdemeanor.

Sherwood was in court Monday, just in case Grunwald took the deal. Both the Sherwood and Wride families are now preparing to go through a trial.

"We're fine, and we'll move forward with the judicial system," Blake Wride, Cory's father, said outside of court Monday.

Trial is scheduled to begin in February.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah
Sam Penrod

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast