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The Moncton woman who evaded authorities for months before being arrested in relation to the brutal murder of an 18-year-old has been given the greenlight to stand trial.
Marissa Shephard, 20, was wanted in connection with the murder of 18-year-old Baylee Wyle since December, after his body was found inside a burned-out home in Moncton. Police said that Wylie had died violently before the fire started.
During the period Shephard was on the run, the RCMP had a national warrant out for her arrest. Her father speculated that she may have been dead, and the police told VICE that she "could be anywhere." It wasn't until March 1 that she was caught in the heart of Moncton, trying to escape police on foot.
Two of Shephard's friends, Tyler Noel and Devin Morningstar, were apprehended weeks before her arrest. While Noel and Morningstar have been found fit to stand trial, their exact involvement in the matter is unclear. According to CBC, Wylie's mother said that Shephard had been living with him for the weeks prior to his murder.
On March 18, Shephard was sent for a psychiatric assessment at Restigouche Hospital Centre in Campbellton, NB. The assessment was meant to gauge whether she was mentally fit—meaning having stable mental health and demonstrating an ability to make logical decisions—to stand trial on her own. Those who are not found mentally fit to stand trial will often times have charges dropped in order to seek mandatory psychiatric help.
Shephard is set to return to court on June 3 to hear the charges of first-degree murder and arson, while Morningstar's official trial date has been set for October 18. Police are still determining if there is enough evidence against Noel to hold him to trial.
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