The man accused of kidnapping and murdering a Nevada teen is facing additional charges related to the case, the Reno Gazette-Journal reports.
Authorities had alleged that 41-year-old Troy Driver abducted 18-year-old Naomi Irion from a Walmart parking lot in Fernley, Nevada, in March before killing her and burying her body, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
Prosecutors this week said Driver also kidnapped the teen at gunpoint for the purpose of sexually assaulting her and killing her.
The amended complaint accuses Driver of raping Irion between where she was taken and “near a rural portion of northern Churchill County,” the complaint states, according to Fox News.
In light of the additional allegations, Driver is now facing new charges of robbery with the use of a deadly weapon, burglary of a motor vehicle, illegal firearm possession, sexual assault, and destruction of evidence.
Irion had stopped in the Walmart parking lot in the early morning hours of March 12 to take an employee bus to her job at an electronics factory. Security camera footage shows Driver getting into the driver’s seat of her vehicle and then leaving the parking lot with Irion in the passenger seat.
Authorities later found Irion’s remains on March 30 in a remote region of Churchill County.
Richard Davies, Driver’s lawyer, has said his client continues to assert his innocence and would seek to move proceedings out of the county because the case has attracted significant public interest.
Driver is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on September 13.
Irion’s brother, Casey Valley, told Fox News in March that he had a gut feeling something was wrong when his sister went missing.
“I knew something wasn’t right. I knew it didn’t fit her character,” Valley told Fox News.
“I knew something bad had happened — I just didn’t know what yet — until I went myself . . . to the Walmart and worked with the security people to try to verify whether or not she got there, and then when she did, to try to figure out why she left.”
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[Feature Photo: Naomi Irion/Handout]
