UTAH COUNTY, Utah, April 26, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — The CBS crime show “48 Hours” will focus on a 2017 Utah case this week with an episode called “A Death in Payson Canyon.”
The episode, which airs at 9 p.m. Saturday on KUTV Channel 2, retells the story of 16-year-old Jchandra Brown and her suicide, on May 5, 2017, and the subsequent trial and felony conviction of Spanish Fork schoolmate Tyerell Joe Przybycien, who assisted Brown in her suicide.
“‘A Death in Payson Canyon’ is the stunning and heartbreaking story of a family, a community and authorities struggling to make sense of a young girl’s death by suicide, only to discover that her friend, who had many opportunities to stop her, helped her complete the act instead,” advance material from CBS says. “The broadcast also explores the broader issue of teen depression.”
The episode interviews Brown’s mother, Susan Bryan, who told producers that Jchandra was “… my world. She was my life. When Jchandra died, my heart shattered.”
It also interviews Utah County Sheriff’s Detective Quinten Fackrell about how Brown’s body was found by a turkey hunter and reported to authorities, who found a suicide note and a phone recording of the death.
They found two grocery bags, one of which had a receipt for rope, purchased with a debit card belonging to Przybycien, who was then 18.
“As police continued searching the area where Brown was found, Przybycien walked up,” the episode preview says. “‘He introduces himself to me as Tyerell Przybycien,’ recalls Sgt. Josh Chappell. ‘And he goes, “I think you want to talk to me. I need to tell you the whole story.”‘
“Przybycien told police he was just helping Jchandra do what she wanted to do, but detectives later discovered new evidence that showed this may have been Tyerell’s plan all along – such as a text he sent to a friend stating, ‘It’s like getting away with murder.'”
In December of last year, Przybycien was convicted of child abuse — homicide, a first degree felony, and faces five years to life in prison as part of a plea deal in which witness tampering charges were dropped.
Przybycien also pleaded guilty to attempted sexual exploitation of a minor, a third-degree felony with a shorter sentence, to run concurrently.
“This goes beyond making bad mistakes,” prosecutor Chad Grunander reportedly told CBS. “This was criminal behavior. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jchandra does not die on May 5, 2017, if she had never met Tyerell.”
