Mackenzie Lueck Update: Suspect Pleads Guilty To Murdering Utah College Student

A man charged with the killing of Mackenzie Lueck, a 23-year-old University of Utah pre-nursing student who disappeared last year, pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and desecration of a corpse Wednesday.

Ayoola Ajayi, a 31-year-old Nigerian immigrant, will face a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Ajayi pleaded guilty in an agreement with prosecutors that they won't seek the death penalty, USA Today reported. Two additional charges including aggravated kidnapping and obstruction of justice were reportedly dropped as part of the agreement.

Lueck, a Los Angeles native, disappeared in June 2019 after arriving at the Salt Lake City International Airport from California. She was returning after attending her grandmother's funeral. She took a cab to a park a few miles away from the airport and got into a second car belonging to Ajayi. She was reported missing after that.

Investigators found that Ajayi had contacted Lueck a day before she arrived at the airport. They also tracked Ajayi's cell phone signal to the park.

Police later found some charred items that belonged to Lueck in Ajayi's backyard. He was arrested on suspicion of aggravated murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body.

"Excavation of the burned area was conducted, which resulted in the finding of several charred items, that were consistent with personal items of Mackenzie Lueck," Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown had said after Lueck's remains were found. "Other charred material was located, which has now been determined to be female human tissue."

A DNA test confirmed the charred items belonged to Ajayi and Lueck. Lueck's body was later found in a canyon with her arms bound behind her back. A medical examiner determined she suffered fatal blunt force trauma to the left side of her skull.

Ajayi, an information technology worker who briefly served in the Utah National Guard, had a history of violence and behavior issues. It is not known how Ajayi and Lueck knew each other and what was the motive behind the murder.

"Words cannot begin to describe the amount of sadness and pain we're all feeling," Ashley Fine, Lueck's friend, said of Lueck at a vigil held in her honor in July. "Everyone that knew Mackenzie loved her and she is so greatly missed."