Teen was 'sexually assaulted, zip-tied and murdered by man on bail for attacking her a year before'
An autopsy found that the 19-year-old was violently killed and while the pathologist could not determine an exact cause of death the findings suggested she had been smothered, suffocated or drowned. She also had a zip tie around her wrist.
"Possible causes of death include drowning, smothering, suffocation and other asphyxial means of death."
Charles Cottingham, an air force veteran, was then arrested in September and was charged with first-degree murder.
The 33-year-old had also previously been charged with sexually assaulting Stone in 2016.
The pair first met through a sex advert in Hoke County where Stone was offering sex in exchange for money on a site called Backpage.
Investigators say that he held a gun to Stone's head while he made her perform a sex act on him inside a parked car.
When police patrolling the area stumbled on the incident he was charged with first-degree sex offense, kidnapping and solicitation.
He was also put on a nightly curfew and ordered to stay away from Stone.
Stone's parents then reported the teen missing on August 8 last year and her body was found tangled in trees in the river the next day.
And it was only after investigators went through her phone that they discovered she had put up another sex advert offering escort services.
CCTV footage showed the teen leaving a motel and getting into a 2010 Nissan Maxima - the same model of car owned by Cottingham who was then arrested.
Cottingham has been in jail since his arrest in September and according to WNCN is due back in court on March 27.
