EVERETT — Prosecutors on Friday asked that the man accused of killing Shannon Yeager be held without bail, saying the defendant could be facing an aggravated murder charge.
Everett police officers reportedly have uncovered allegations that John Derosia sexually assaulted Yeager before stabbing and beating her to death last month. Yeager’s body was discovered June 23 along the Pigeon Creek Trail, near the railroad tracks.
Prosecutors have charged Derosia, 62, with first-degree murder in Everett District Court. They have until mid-July to refile felony charges in Superior Court.
Even if Derosia isn’t charged with aggravated murder, he is still facing a possible life sentence without release under the state’s persistent offender law. A murder conviction would be his third strike, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell wrote in court papers.
Derosia has a prior robbery conviction from another state. He also was convicted in 2004 of murdering his wife. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison for that killing. He was in the final months of supervision by the state Department of Corrections at the time of Yeager’s death.
Derosia also allegedly admitted in 2014 to killing a coworker in the early 1970s. King County prosecutors didn’t file charges because of a lack of evidence.
Derosia is accused of a “savage and sadistic killing of a vulnerable homeless woman,” Cornell said Friday in court.
“There should be no chance that this defendant can get out of jail until the case is adjudicated,” he added.
Derosia’s attorney argued that $1 million bail was enough to secure his continued incarceration. Her client receives $710 a month in Social Security benefits and doesn’t have the means to make bail, said Jennifer Bartlett, an attorney with the Snohomish County Public Defender Association.
Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui sided with Cornell, saying the evidence shows that Derosia has a propensity for violence. To protect the public he shouldn’t be allowed to bail out before a trial, the judge said.
New court records indicate that a severely injured Yeager, 46, sought help before she was killed.
Detectives contacted a man who told police he encountered Yeager on the trail the morning of June 23. She likely was staying at a nearby camp. Yeager was hurt and asked him to get help. He told police he left her sitting against a fence about 50 yards from where her body was later found. He sought out a friend with a cellphone to call 911.
Officers checked the area near the railroad tracks as described by the caller but weren’t able to locate anyone, Everett police officer Aaron Snell said.
Derosia allegedly told police that he beat and stabbed Yeager at the camp, leaving her for dead. He reportedly returned home about two miles away, changed his clothes and disposed of evidence. He returned to the camp to hide Yeager’s body. She wasn’t there but he allegedly crossed paths with her on the trail. He told police he slammed her head into concrete until he heard a crack, according to court papers.
Yeager was the mother of a teenage son. She had been married for 17 years before the couple separated in 2013. Her ex-husband wrote that Yeager had struggled with alcoholism and cited her addiction as a reason for their divorce.
Detectives learned that Yeager had been to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett on June 21 and the day before her death. Everett firefighters had brought her in that morning because of concerns about her level of alcohol intoxication. She was released just before 8 p.m.
“She was last seen walking eastbound wearing white tennis shoes, slim fitting blue jeans, a jacket with a hood and had a black large bag with her,” police wrote in a search warrant.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
