Print edition: 
EL DORADO — A young couple were charged this afternoon with first-degree murder in the death of a 69-year-old Augusta woman who taught at a Wichita elementary school.
Loyce Cody, who lived alone, was found dead in a bedroom of her Augusta home at about 10 a.m. Monday, authorities said. Her 18-year-old grandson, Jacob A. Hoyt, is one of the two charged in her death.
Hoyt’s co-defendant, 19-year-old Lyndsey R. Giovinazzo, is his girlfriend, Butler County Attorney Darrin Devinney said.
It appears that Cody had been strangled or asphyxiated early the same day that her body was found, Devinney said. He declined to comment on whether there was forced entry to Cody’s home.
Judge Mike Ward set bond for each of the defendants at $1 million. As a part of his consideration in setting the bond, Ward said, “This is a very violent crime and one that justifies an extremely high bond.”
When Ward asked Hoyt if he had any questions, Hoyt asked, “Does Kansas have a death penalty?”
Ward noted that Hoyt is not charged with capital murder, the charge that can lead to the death penalty. Later, Devinney said that the facts of the case did not meet the criteria needed to bring a capital murder charge. The two are facing the most serious charges that can be filed based on the facts determined so far, Devinney said.
The two also were charged with arson and felony theft. The theft charges accuse them of taking from Cody, who was Hoyt’s maternal grandmother, a 2010 Toyota Corolla, a bank debit card and candy from her home.
The arson charge accuses each of damaging by fire or an explosive a 2003 Ford Focus that belongs to two people in Independence. Devinney said he couldn’t say how the arson charge might be related to the other charges.
The two had been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder and are being held in the Butler County Jail. Sheriff Kelly Herzet told Ward the two defendants will be held apart from each other. Ward said the two are not to have contact with each other.
They face a Jan. 23 preliminary hearing. Each will have a court-appointed attorney. Each appeared separately in court.
Hoyt said he had been unemployed for two months and had worked at a Coffeyville fast-food outlet.
Giovinazzo, who sobbed as she sat alone at a courtroom table, said she had been out of work for five days and had a job at another fast-food outlet. She spoke in a soft voice, and it wasn’t clear whether she said her job was in Coffeyville or Bartlesville, Okla.
Tyler Brewer, Augusta chief of police, has said that officers went to check on Cody after relatives reported she had not shown up for her job. She was a pre-kindergarten special education teacher at Cessna Elementary School in Wichita. Officers found Cody’s body; her blue Toyota Corolla was missing. Augusta police gave a description of the car to other law enforcement agencies around noon Monday.
At about 4:30 p.m., Butler County deputies were checking on a report of a car on fire near Southwest 120th Street and Hopkins Switch when they spotted the Toyota. The car led deputies on a chase at speeds of up to 100 mph, ending north of Winfield when Cowley County sheriff’s deputies stopped the car using tire spikes, Herzet has said.
Hoyt and Giovinazzo were arrested after questioning Monday night.
Cody was active in the Augusta community, Brewer has said.
She had taught at Cessna Elementary since 2006 and had taught at Cleaveland Elementary during the 1994-95 school year, said Wichita school district spokeswoman Susan Arensman.
