Preston Taylor, 19, challenged his detention but an appellate court said he must remain behind bars while his case is pending
FREEHOLD -- One of two friends accused in the death of Sarah Stern lost a bid to get out of jail while prosecutors prepare their case against him.
A state appellate court on Tuesday refused to reverse a Superior Court judge's decision to keep Preston Taylor behind bars rather than let him move home with his parents.
Taylor, 19, of Neptune City, is accused of helping to dump Stern's body off the Route 35 bridge in Belmar early Dec. 3 after his friend Liam McAtasney allegedly strangled her and stole $7,000 from her.
After Taylor's Feb. 2 arrest, his attorney sought to have him released from jail while his case is pending.
Prosecutors, however, argued Taylor should remain incarcerated because he tried to obstruct the investigation first by initially telling detectives he didn't know anything about Stern's disappearance and then by participating with McAtasney in a search for her to cast suspicion away from them.
Teen charged with cover-up in Sarah Stern's killing seeks jail release again
His attorney, John Perrone, had argued that wasn't enough under the state's new bail system to keep Taylor from being released.
Perrone on Feb. 16 asked Superior Court Judge David Bauman to reopen Taylor's detention hearing but Bauman refused, saying the lawyer didn't present any new information that would warrant a new hearing.
Perrone appealed and the panel delivered its decision on Tuesday, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.
Prosecutors had said they were set to present the case to a grand jury on April 3, but that has not yet occurred.
Friends from childhood, McAtasney and Taylor were charged in Stern's death despite investigators not yet finding her body.
A witness told investigators McAtasney admitted to strangling Stern, 19, in her Neptune home on Dec. 2 before stealing $7,000. Authorities have said McAtasney left Stern in the house while he went to work but later recruited Taylor to hide her body among some bushes outside. The pair then returned to the house hours later to take her body about a mile away to the bridge, where they dumped her over the side, authorities contend.
McAtasney has been jailed since his arrest and his attorney did not seek to challenge his detention.
MaryAnn Spoto may be reached at mspoto@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnSpoto. Find NJ.com on Facebook.