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Kentucky man held on $1M bond in death of Murray State University student

The man is charged with shooting and killing 21-year-old Sarah Townsend and leaving her body in a ditch.

MURRAY, Ky. — A Kentucky man is being held on a $1 million bond in the shooting death of a Murray State University student. 

The Murray Ledger & Times reports Julius Sotomayor is charged with murder, theft by unlawful taking and tampering with physical evidence. He was arrested on Saturday after the body of Sarah Townsend was discovered in a ditch the previous day. 

According to Kentucky State Police, Murray State University Campus Police were asked to conduct a welfare check on Townsend when she didn't show up for work on Friday. Detectives were able to identify her through the report from campus police and help from Townsend's family members.

A preliminary autopsy report determined the 21-year-old Townsend, a pre-veterinary medicine student from Farmville, Virginia, died of multiple gunshot wounds.  

Murray State University sent out an email message to students saying “this loss is felt deeply by all of us.”

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