Court Appearance for Suspects in Cerchi Murder

(St. Francois County, MO.) The two suspects in the murder of 38 year old Jessica Cerchi of Park Hills, 20 year old Dylan Murray of Valles Mines and 34 year old Jasson McCormick of St. Louis, will be in court today for their initial arraignment in the case. The pair is accused of killing Cerchi in the early morning of December 9th sometime between about 3 a.m. and 6:30. An autopsy showed Cerchi suffered 20 puncture wounds to her body and ligature strangulation wounds to her neck. Murray and McCormack are charged with murder in the first degree, armed criminal action, stealing a motor vehicle, and stealing. Cerchi's body was discovered last Thursday afternoon after relatives, who hadn't heard from her, asked police to check and see if she was okay.

Police found Cerchi's body in her apartment on 7th Street in Park Hills. Cerchi's vehicle was missing and it was discovered it had been wrecked in Jefferson County December 11th, while Murray and McCormick were inside. Police also allege the two suspects went out of state to a casino where they used a credit device and an EBT card of Cerchi's. During police interviews Murray said McCormick was the one who stabbed Cerchi while McCormick told police Murray was the person who killed her.