A 17-year-old Corona boy accused with a woman of killing an infant and dumping the child’s remains near Interstate 15 made his initial court appearance Friday.
Joshua Tyler Benson of Corona appeared for a detention hearing in Riverside Juvenile Dependency Court, where he will next appear for a settlement conference on Jan. 23.
Benson is charged with murder for the death of “Baby Jane Doe” in July. His co-defendant, 22-year-old Shawna Joelle Andritch, also is charged with murder.
Andritch made her initial court appearance Tuesday at the Riverside Hall of Justice. She was appointed a public defender and is slated to return for her arraignment on Dec. 20.
Andritch and Benson were arrested last Friday following a Corona police investigation that identified the pair thanks to tips given to detectives after the child was buried at Sunnyslope Cemetery.
Baby Jane Doe — a name appended because detectives could never determine her identity — was discovered by passers-by on the afternoon of July 27 near I-15 and Cajalco Road.
Coroner’s officials could not determine a specific cause of death, or how many days old she was before she died.
The case triggered community outrage, and police turned to the public for help identifying the baby’s parents, but few clues were forthcoming.
Corona public safety officials raised funds to pay for Baby Jane Doe’s burial at Sunnyslope on Dec. 6, which generated additional publicity about the case.
Corona police Sgt. Chad Fountain said that immediately after the service, detectives received credible tips concerning who might be responsible for the infant’s death. The information culminated in Andritch and the teen being questioned. They were arrested after giving statements to police, Fountain said.
He would not disclose what they said, or any other circumstances surrounding their arrests.
Andritch has no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions. She’s being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.
No information was available concerning Benson, being held without bail at Riverside Juvenile Hall.
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