Former USU student pleads guilty to murder
Former Utah State University student Ayoola Ajayi has pled guilty to the murder of former University of Utah student MacKenzie Lueck.
“As a part of this plea, the defendant further agreed to a stipulation. Life without the possibility of parole,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said in a press conference on Wednesday.
There will be a sentencing to the guilty plea on Oct. 23 by Judge Vernice Trease.
According to Gill, the charges include one count of aggravated murder and one count of desecration of a human body. He also pled guilty to one count of forcible sexual abuse from a separate incident on March 10, 2018.
Ajayi is a green card holder from Nigeria. He attended USU on and off between 2009 and 2016 and left without a degree, according to USU spokesperson Tim Vitale.
Ajayi was arrested on June 28, 2019 in connection with Lueck’s disappearance and death. He was held on counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping, desecration of a body and obstruction of justice.
In the early morning on June 17, Lueck flew into the Salt Lake City Airport. She is seen on video picking up her luggage and leaving the airport in a Lyft which took her to Hatch Park in Salt Lake City.
According to the Salt Lake City Police Department, phone data shows that Lueck was in communication with Ajayi at the time and planned on meeting him there. Ajayi then drove her to his house.
Defense attorney Neal Hamilton said that Ajayi planned on killing Lueck before he even arrived at the park to pick her up.
Hamilton also said that the two met on an online dating site “Seeking Arrangement”, a site that connects wealthy men willing to pay younger women to go on dates with them. Originally, SLCPD authorities never released how Ajayi and Lueck were communicating with one another.
Upon arriving at his home with Lueck, Ajayi tied Lueck’s hands behind her back and choked her to death. He used his hands before using a belt, according to Hamilton.
Ajayi then took Lueck’s body to his backyard, burned her and buried her.
A few days after Lueck’s reported disappearance, SLCPD knocked on Ajayi’s door to ask questions about his connection to the victim. Authorities left without arresting Ajayi, who then exhumed Lueck’s body and drove up to Logan Canyon to bury her. Her body was later found in a shallow grave, Hamilton said.
During the press conference, Gill said, as part of the plea agreement, Ajayi agreed to life without the possibility of parole. In exchange, the DA will not pursue the death penalty.
“I just want to take a second to acknowledge the incredible resilience and strength of Greg and Diana, the parents of MacKenzie,” Gill said. “With the plea today, maybe they can begin to have some sense of closure.
MacKenzie’s family has asked for privacy during this time.
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