FREEHOLD — A Neptune City teen accused of helping to throw the body of his former prom date off the Route 35 bridge in Belmar in December has a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday morning.
An attorney for Preston Taylor is scheduled to appear in front of Monmouth County Superior Court Judge David Bauman on Tuesday to argue for the 19-year-old’s release from jail while he stands trial on multiple charges, including desecration of human remains, for helping to dispose of body of Sarah Stern in the Shark River.
Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Meghan Doyle said she would seek to have Taylor and his co-defendant, Liam McAtasney, remain behind bars until their case is resolved.
Prosecutors claim McAtasney strangled Stern to death while robbing her of thousands of dollars and then called Taylor to help him dispose of her body.
McAtasney is charged with murder, robbery and desecration of human remains in what authorities say was a robbery attempt at Stern’s Neptune City home on Dec. 2. Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni has said McAtasney was trying to steal “large quantities of cash in the thousands of dollars range” from Stern.
However, authorities have not said why Stern had the cash.
Stern’s car was found parked, unoccupied with the keys inside, on the Route 35 bridge early in the morning on Dec. 2.
Dive teams searched the Shark River the next day but never found a body.
As McAtasney and Taylor sit in the Monmouth County jail, the New Jersey State Police Marine Unit has resumed a search of Shark River Inlet every day since authorities announced their arrest on Thursday.
Meanwhile, sources told NJ Advance Media Monday that investigators found two safes buried at Sandy Hook and Shark River Park. One of the safes contained thousands of dollars in cash, the sources said.
Gramiccioni isn’t saying what led investigators to the pair. But Stern’s father, Michael Stern, has said the two were friends at Neptune High School.
Stern and McAtasney volunteered with the Bradley Beach Fire Department in 2013. Michael Stern often drove McAtasney and Taylor to school, he has said.
Sarah Stern and Taylor went to junior prom together, Michael Stern said.
On Dec. 10, when nearly 100 people volunteered in a search of the area surrounding the Shark River inlet, Taylor and McAtasney were among them.
Meanwhile, a GoFundMe.com account that has been set up to help offset future expenses for Stern’s family has raised nearly $4,000 since Feb. 3.
McAtasney’s detention hearing is scheduled for Feb. 14.
NJ Advance Media’s Rob Spahr contributed to this report.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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