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SALT LAKE CITY — Despite being charged with three misdemeanors, a judge has ordered a man still under investigation in the death of Sandy woman to remain behind bars without bail.
Cody Young, 42, was arrested Oct. 13 after the body of Jan Pearson-Jenkins, 64, was found on a sagebrush hillside about a mile from where the two of them are believed to have gone camping early this month in the Silver City area of Juab County.
He was charged Monday in 4th District Court with possession or use of a controlled substance and unlawful purchase or transfer of a dangerous weapon, class A misdemeanors. He was also charged with use or possession of drug paraphernalia, a class B misdemeanor.
In order to keep Young in jail that long from the time he was arrested to the time charges were filed, prosecutors had to request an extension from the court.
According to the motion for their extension, filed Oct. 16 but only recently made public, an autopsy on Pearson-Jenkins was performed on Oct. 15.
"There are microscopic reviews and toxicology that still need to be conducted which will have bearing on the charges ultimately filed in this matter," the motion states.
Furthermore, "a number of electronic devices" were recovered from a vehicle, presumed to be the van Young was living in when he was arrested, according to court documents. Prosecutors say they are waiting for warrants to be completed to search those devices that "may also have a bearing on the charges ultimately filed in this matter."
Deputies booked Young into the Juab County Jail for investigation of murder. As for whether Young could later be charged with murder, court documents indicate the charge "is highly fact sensitive and dependent upon the evidence from the medical examiner and the warrant searches of electronic devices."
Young's next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 6.
