MADERA COUNTY, CA (KMJ) – An Oceanside man appears in court, facing first degree murder charges in the death of a young girl that he met over social media.
19-year-old Codi Slayton was pleading not guilty at his arraignment in a Madera courtroom.
The former Marine is accused of killing of 16-year-old Josephine Jimenez.
She had been reported missing from Gateway and Yosemite on Oct. 14, 2019.
Her body was found a week later on Oct 22, 2019 on rural AG property in southeast Madera County.
In December NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) shared information with the Madera County Sheriff’s Office that they had been investigating Slayton.
Authorities are calling Slayton an “online predator” and say he used social media to communicate with Jimenez and other young girls, in California and beyond.
Madera County Sheriff Jay Varney is asking anyone who may have had contact with Slayton online is asked to call the Madera Sheriff’s Office or Valley Crime Stoppers.
Slayton is scheduled to return to court January 31, 2020.
His bail remains at $5-million dollars, after it was raised from $1-million, originally.
Click to listen to the report by KMJ’s Liz Kern:
