The photographer accused of killing Natel King, who worked in adult under the name Taylor Sumers, pleaded not guilty to all charges connected to King’s murder.
Anthony Frederick, 46, is charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, unsworn falsification to authorities and abuse of a corpse. Frederick is currently being held without bail.
Jennifer Mitkus, Frederick’s photography assistant, was also arrested in relation to the case. She is charged with lying to authorities and as well as hindering apprehension. She is in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Although Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L. Castor Jr. suspects that King may have been killed for a “snuff film,” an illegal pornographic video of someone being killed, he will not be seeking the death penalty for Frederick.
"There was no evidence supporting any aggravating circumstance for which we could seek the death penalty," Castor told the Times Herald, a local paper.
Frederick had booked Natel King, a 23-year-old Canadian, for an adult photo shoot on February 29; his photography studio is the last place she was seen alive.
King was missing for over three weeks when her body was found in a ravine, draped in a photography backdrop that police identified as backdrops in photos that Frederick had taken of King. A ball gag and other bondage-type materials were found in the area.
The coroner's office ruled King's death a homicide, saying she died from multiple stab wounds to the neck and upper body.
Frederick will go on trial on December 13.
