Va. Tech student charged in murder of another female student

BLACKSBURG, Va. – A current Virginia Tech student and a recent graduate have been charged in connection to a murder in Blacksburg on Saturday, CBS affiliate WDBJ reports.

Jessica Michelle Ewing, 22, was arrested Monday in the murder of another female Virginia Tech student, Samanata Shrestha, who was identified in the arrest warrant. Ewing is charged with second-degree murder.

Keifer Kyle Brown, 23, a 2013 graduate of the university, is charged with accessory after the fact “by receiving, relieving, comforting or assisting Jessica Ewing after knowing that such person had committed a felony,” the warrant states.

Police say the murder happened sometime after 7:00 a.m. Saturday, the day that Shrestha was reported missing. Further details about the killing as well as a possible motive have not been released.

“At times like this, we are at a loss for words to explain or understand such a heinous act,” said Virginia Tech President Charles Steger in an open letter to the school community. “We know such crime should not happen in a special place like Blacksburg, yet we also know… that crime can visit even the most placid communities.”

Investigators began looking into Shrestha’s murder Sunday. After asking the community to look out for a black 2004 Mercedes wanted in connection to the investigation, Blacksburg police found the vehicle around 10 a.m. Monday when a citizen reported seeing it.

Both suspects are being held without bond at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Col. Don Russell of the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets, the school's military component in which Brown and Ewing were once members, said the Corps heard about the murder and alleged involvement of the suspects via social media.

The Virginia Tech Police Department said Ewing and Brown both lived off-campus.