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Teen involved in officer shooting appears in court

Posted at 9:32 PM, Feb 24, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-24 23:32:51-05

UTAH COUNTY -- The teenager accused of driving the getaway car during the Utah County shootings January 30 made her first court appearance Monday.

Meagan Grunwald, 17, faces more than a dozen charges, most of them felonies, including aggravated murder.  They’re all related to the murder of Utah County Sgt. Cory Wride and the wounding of Deputy Greg Sherwood.

Prosecutors say they have overwhelming evidence to show Grunwald was behind the wheel and aided her boyfriend, Jose Angel Garcia-Juaregui, who shot and killed Sgt. Wride and wounded Deputy Sherwood before police shot and killed the suspect in Juab County.  Prosecutors say Grunwald wasn’t along for the ride, she was equally responsible.

"We think her culpability is such that she should be charged as an adult and so we're just going through that procession like any other case," said Utah County prosecutor Sam Pead.

Grunwald faced the Provo judge during an initial two-minute appearance.  The 17-year-old remains in the Salt Lake County jail on $1 million cash-only bail.

"Oh she's scared to death, she can hardly breathe, she's 17 years-old, never been in trouble before," said her attorney Dean Zabriskie.

Zabriskie will address bail during a hearing Monday, March 3.

Several members of Sgt. Wride’s family were in court but no one made public statements afterwards.  Meagan Grunwald’s family had no comment to FOX 13.