Three people convicted in the cover up of a Virginia teenager’s slaying have been sentenced to prison
FREDERICKSBURG, Va. — Three people convicted of covering up the slaying of a Virginia teenager whose body was dismembered and burned were sentenced to prison on Monday.
Megan Metzger was 19 years old in 2018 when she was shot in the face during a gathering in Spotsylvania County, Virginia State Police agents have said. Members of the group were using methamphetamine together when David W. Newton, 22, accused Metzger of being a police informant and fatally shot her, according to court testimony from police and the defendants.
Juan Benavidez III, 20, and Keelyn R. Codynah, 25, were accused of then covering up the slaying by mutilating the body and disposing of parts by burning and burying them in different locations, prosecutors alleged. Robert Keating, 27, owned the home and was accused of trading the murder weapon for drugs, among other actions taken to cover up the killing.
Newton was convicted of first-degree murder last month and is serving a 40-year sentence, the newspaper reported.
On Monday, Spotsylvania Circuit Judge William Glover ordered Benavidez to serve 13 years, Codynah to serve 16 years and Keating to serve 21 years for crimes including defiling a dead body and being an accessory after the fact to murder, the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star reported.
