2nd guilty plea entered in Missouri transgender teen’s death

CABOOL, Mo. – A second person charged in connection with the slaying of a transgender teenager in southwest Missouri has pleaded guilty.

Ozarksfirst.com reports 25-year-old James Thomas Grigsby, of Thayer, pleaded guilty Tuesday to abandonment of a corpse. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

Grigsby was accused of helping three other people dispose of the body of 17-year-old Ally Steinfeld, of rural Texas County. Her remains were found in September in Cabool, about 70 miles (115 kilometres) east of Springfield.

Investigators say she was stabbed several times, including in the genitals. Her eyes were gouged out and her body was set on fire. Authorities have insisted the killing was not a hate crime.

Another person charged — Isis Schauer — pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Two other people await trial on first-degree murder charges.