Naman Shrestha
When a bright 16-year-old girl named Josephine Jimenez went missing in October 2019 in Madera, California, the entire community played a part in searching for the teenager. However, the search turned into a murder investigation when her remains were found several miles away from her house. During the investigation, several suspects emerged, but an unexpected source led the detectives straight to the perpetrator responsible for the gruesome crime. The entire case and the investigation that ensued are covered in detail in Investigation Discovery’s ‘On the Case With Paula Zahn: A Picture Worth a 1000 Words,’ which also features exclusive interviews with Josephine’s loved ones and officials linked to the investigation.
Josephine Jimenez’s Remains Were Found About a Week After She Disappeared
On March 13, 2003, in Madera, California, Maria and Raymond Jimenez welcomed a little bundle of joy into the world in the form of Josephine Elsida Jimenez. Accompanied by her caring siblings — Christina, Alexis, Renee, Raymond, and Leticia — Josephine grew up to be a sociable person who had the ability to light up even the dullest of rooms through her mere presence. Given her kind and compassionate nature, she had loads of friends. Ever since the seventh grade, she had been working towards joining the army by training regularly. The Madera High School student also dreamed of seeing the world.
Apart from excelling on the academic front, Josephine was also passionate about sports and spending time at the church and with her friends and family. Unfortunately, her plans for the future were derailed by fate. On the morning of October 14, 2019, when her mother could not find Josephine anywhere in the house, she got concerned and reported her missing to the authorities. The week-long search for the missing teenager ended on October 22, when her loved ones’ worst nightmare came true. 16-year-old Josephine Jimenez was found partially buried in an agricultural area in the southern part of Madera County. Although the autopsy reports failed to determine the cause of death, they revealed that the injuries were consistent with suffocation. Thus, a homicide investigation was immediately launched.
The Detectives Suspected One of Josephine’s Friends to be Responsible For Her Murder
As part of the investigation, the detectives interviewed several of Josephine Jimenez’s classmates. At first, they reported nothing suspicious, but later, some of her friends claimed that she had told them about her plan to sneak out on the fateful night to meet an older man, who was also a family friend. As per reports, she and the mystery man were supposed to dine out at a local Wingstop restaurant. Upon checking the surveillance footage of the eatery, the authorities learned that she never made it to the restaurant that night. The detectives were then led to a couple of persons of interest — Ethan and Tyler.
The former was eliminated from the police’s list of suspects after he provided them with a concrete alibi. On the other hand, Tyler admitted to hanging out with Josephine on October 13, 2019, but told them that she returned home around dinner time. During the investigation, another friend of Josephine came forward and claimed to have been on a video call with her right before she left the house on October 13, 2019. Due to her doubts about Josephine’s meetup with the man, she took a couple of screenshots while on the video call. One of the two screenshots captured a portion of the vehicle that the man was driving; it was silver in color.
The NCIS Directed the Investigators Towards the Killer
With the investigators still suspecting Tyler, the authorities questioned him again. When asked if they were romantically involved, he told them that Josephine was attracted to girls. While focusing on him, they came across a few suspicious inconsistencies in his story. Tyler had not told the police that instead of returning home on October 13, he went to his cousin’s place. More suspicions were raised when they learned that his cousin owned a grey car. However, on December 10, 2019, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) reached out to Madera County Sheriff’s Office detectives and provided them with a new lead who might be connected to Josephine’s murder. The NCIS had a former Marine named Codi John Slayton in their custody for a separate case.
When the detectives interrogated the 19-year-old man in Oceanside, California, the suspect initially denied any involvement in the murder of Josephine Jimenez. Eventually, he claimed that he had been with her on the fateful night and told them that he had accidentally killed her during a sexual act. He alleged that he then drove down into the orchard with her remains and tried to bury them. However, he left the job unfinished as he was afraid that someone might see him. The investigators didn’t buy his story and believed that Codi strangled Josephine after she refused his advances. They found out that he had been communicating with Josephine online, alongside several other young girls, whom he allegedly blackmailed. Finally, on January 16, 2020, Codi Slayton was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Codi Slayton is Currently Incarcerated at a California Prison Facility
On May 25, 2023, 22-year-old Codi Slayton pleaded guilty to all the charges against him in connection with the killing of 16-year-old Josephine Jimenez. Several family members of Josephine also took the stand and read out victim impact statements. Her sister, Alexis, stated, “He destroyed my family. He took away the most beautiful soul.” Meanwhile, her uncle said, “The day I found out that she was gone broke me. I’m still broken now.”
Moreover, her father, Raymond, also expressed his anger towards the killer. He said, “I just have so much hate for this man, and I hope he never does come out again.” The following day, the former Marine was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the lesser charge of second-degree murder. On top of that, he was also registered as a sex offender for the rest of his life. As of today, he is serving his sentence at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center (previously known as San Quentin State Prison) in San Quentin, California, with his parole suitability hearing scheduled for February 2030.
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