Judge grants prosecutor’s motion to drop abandonment charges in Kylr Yust murder case
A Cass County judge on Thursday dismissed two lesser counts in against Kylr Yust, who has been accused of killing Jessica Runions and Kara Kopetsky, according to court documents.
During a court hearing, Judge William B. Collins granted the Cass County prosecutor’s request to dismiss two counts of abandonment of a corpse. Yust remains charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kopetsky, 17, and Runions, 21.
Kopetsky was reported missing in May 2007; Runions was last seen alive in September 2016. A mushroom hunter found their remains in April 2017 in a wooded area south of Belton.
Yust, 32, was charged six months later. He has pleaded not guilty.
Yust’s defense had asked for a change of judge, but that motion was denied yesterday.
Jury selection in the case is expected to begin later this month with the trial scheduled to begin April 5.
