IRON COUNTY, Utah, Sept. 15, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — The Iron County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday two suspects are in custody following the homicide of a 26-year-old St. George woman.
The deceased woman has been identified as Stevie Shay Wilkerson, who had been reported missing from the St. George Utah area on Aug. 9, two weeks before her body was found.
Remains found in Iron County on Aug. 23 were confirmed to be those of Wilkerson, a previous news release from the Sheriff’s Office said.
“Cedar Communications received a call about a body being located in a remote area of western Iron County,” the initial news release said. “Deputies from the Iron County Sheriff’s Office, crime scene technicians, and investigators responded to the area.
“Investigators determined the body to be an adult female which had been in the area for some time.”
The body was later transported to the Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy and identification.
The two suspects, Joseph Edward “Joey” Fought, 30, and Brittany Elizabeth “Josie” Phillips, 27, are in custody at a San Bernardino County detention facility in California, where they are being held without bail on warrants for possession of a stolen vehicle. Additional charges are pending, the Sheriff’s Office said, adding that the case is being treated as an active homicide investigation.
The news release said Fought and Phillips were apprehended by Barstow police officers at a motel on Aug. 31. They were interviewed by Iron County Sheriff’s deputies in California the next day and are currently awaiting extradition to Utah.
The news release thanked the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Statewide Information and Analysis Center, along with the other law enforcement agencies involved, who provided assistance.
“Our gratitude goes out to all agencies which have been working tirelessly to apprehend these two dangerous subjects,” the news release said. “Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Stevie Wilkerson.”
