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The friends of Mackenzie Lueck, a student who died in the University of Utah, were holding hands in the front row of a courtroom Monday as his alleged killer made his first appearance in court.
The suspect, Ayoola A. Ajayi, a technology technician, video-taped the prison with a court-appointed lawyer during a quick hearing to set a later date of appearance. He has neither spoken nor pleaded for assassination, kidnapping and other charges.
Prosecutors said Ajayi had killed Lueck, 23, who died of head trauma. Police said her body was found with her arms tied behind her in a canyon located 85 km from Ajayi's home.
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Lueck's friends said after the hearing that they were relieved because a suspect is behind bars. They said that seeing Ajayi on video in court was shocking, sad and enraged.
A friend, Ashley Fine, said they were not planning to pronounce her name or pay attention to her, but were following the legal process to make sure Lueck would get justice.
"We are all still in extreme shock. Even now, I feel I could call her and text her and she would answer, "said Fine. "We could not say goodbye to our friend."
They said that they still had many questions to ask, including why Lueck had been chosen and if the murder was planned. They said they did not know how she and the suspect could have been connected.
"What did she do to deserve that?" Asked Kennedy Stoner.
Prosecutors said that Ayoola A. Ajayi had killed 23-year-old Mackenzie Lueck, who died as a result of head trauma. (AP)
The authorities have not discussed any motive or alleged connection between the victim and the accused.
Ajayi's court-appointed lawyer, Neal Hamilton, said nothing during the hearing on the charges and the public defender's office said he would not comment on the case.
Lueck disappeared shortly after returning from a trip to his hometown of California in June for his grandmother's funeral, and had taken a Lyft from the airport to a park. She exchanged SMS with Ajayi, 31, and met him on the spot, but his phone was turned off a minute after the last message and has never been turned on again, prosecutors said.
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Ajayi is a computer scientist and briefly was part of the National Guard of the Army.
He was the subject of an investigation into a 2014 rape allegation and was arrested in a case of the iPad stolen from Utah State University in 2012. The arrest and l '39; Expiry of his student visa led him to be banned from campus for about three years.
Originally from Nigeria, Ajayi holds a green card allowing him to work and live legally in the United States, prosecutors said.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
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