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2 charged in teen's death after escape from behavioral home

Posted at 4:49 PM, Sep 21, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-21 17:49:08-04

ST. JAMES, Mo. — Authorities have charged two people who escaped from a behavioral health facility in central Missouri with killing a 15-year-old who escaped with them.

Enoch Phillips, 18, and Cody Armistead, 17, were charged Monday with first-degree murder for allegedly strangling the younger victim after they escaped from a Great Circle facility in St. James, The Springfield News-Leader reported.

The three escaped Wednesday but only Phillips and Armistead returned to the center Thursday, according to court documents. The victim was identified in court documents as C.H.

Armistead led Phelps County sheriff's deputies to an open field in St. James were C.H.'s body was found, according to the documents.

Online court records do not name attorneys for either Armistead or Phillips.

Great Circle offers counseling centers and home and community-based services in several Missouri and eastern Kansas locations. The organization said in a statement Monday that it was cooperating with county and state officials to investigate the situation.

“We are heartbroken to learn of a tragic situation involving three teenage boys who ran away from our St. James campus last week,” the organization said in a statement Monday. “The death of one of those boys is an unspeakable tragedy.”