14-year-old Philip Chism, a student at Danvers High School was arraigned for the murder of Coleen Ritzer, a 24-year-old math teacher whose body was found in the woods behind the school, The Associated Press reported.
Ritzer, of Andover, Massachusetts, was found dead in a wooded area near the high school, and the teenager will be arraigned on a murder charge, according to Essex District Jonathan Blodgett.
"She was a very, very respected, loved teacher... [It's a] terrible tragedy," Blodgett said. "We have no reason to believe any other suspects are involved," Blodgett told reporters at a news conference Wednesday morning at the high school.
Chism was arraigned Wednesday in Salem on a murder charge and ordered held without bail.
At his arraignment, in adult court on Wednesday afternoon, Chism's defense attorney "argued for the proceeding to be closed and her client to be allowed to stay hidden because of his age. The judge denied the request," The AP reported.
Ritzer was missing late Tuesday night, as she had not returned home, nor answered her cell phone. Investigators soon found blood in a second-floor bathroom at the school and later located Ritzer, The AP also reported. The 14-year-old was "spotted walking along a road in neighboring Topsfield at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday," The AP reported.
All public schools in Danvers on Wednesday were closed due to the ongoing investigation, according to news reports, as Ritzer's murder marks the second teacher killed by a student this week. Another math teacher, Michael Landsberry, was shot by a 12-year-old student at Sparks Middle School in Nevada on Monday.
Authorities said they are going to "take a hard look" at charging the teenager as an adult, Fox News reported.
Ritzer,earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in psychology, with a secondary education concentration at Assumption College in 2011, according to Lorraine U. Martinelle, the college's Director of Media Relations, reported The Associated Press.
"She was beautiful inside and out. She's not a fighter. She probably never saw this coming," Joe Spanos, a former teacher at the high school who knew Ritzer for about 10 years, told FoxNews.com
Ritzer posted her math assignments and gave personal adages on her Twitter account, in hopes of inspiring her students. One posting on August 11 @msritzermath read: "No matter what happens in life, be good to people. Being good to people is a wonderful legacy to leave behind."
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