Ashley Patterson, the 14-year-old Pueblo West girl found dead in field near her home Sunday afternoon, died of strangulation or suffocation, Pueblo County coroner James Kramer said this afternoon.
The girl’s neighbor, Paul Wayne Stark, 64, was charged with first-degree murder Monday and is in the Pueblo County jail on $1 million bond.
Ashley’s body was found stuffed in a garbage bag with second plastic bag over her head.
Evidence indicated the girl had been sexually assaulted, according to the arrest affidavit for Stark. Forensic tests are ongoing to verify that, Kramer said this afternoon.
In Stark’s bedroom, investigators found a shoe (identified by Ashley’s mother) and an earring matching the one Ashley was wearing when she was found, in addition to blood and hair in his bed, according to the court document.
Ashley was a seventh-grader at Pueblo West Middle School.
