TETON COUNTY, Idaho (Scripps News Boise) — An East Idaho man, already charged with killing his pregnant wife and her unborn fetus, is now also formally charged with the murder of his infant son.
Jeremy Best (Teton County Sheriff’s Office)
Prosecutors allege Jeremy Best killed his 10-month-old boy, Zeke, by “inflicting an injury on [his] neck using a knife and thereby causing his death.”
In a newly unsealed indictment, Best is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and three counts of using a firearm or deadly weapon in the commission of a crime.
The 48-year-old prompted an Amber Alert in late November after police say he shot and killed his wife Kali Jean Best — who was 28 weeks pregnant — and took off with their infant son.
Police found Kali dead in the couple’s Victor, Idaho home after responding to a hang-up 911 call on November 30.
Police arrested Jeremy Best two days later after a group of hunters stumbled upon him outside Idaho Falls. The hunters told the sheriff’s office Best was naked in a sleeping bag making odd statements. Police say the infant was found dead at the scene.
Photo provided by: Teton County Sheriff’s Office
Responding officers say they also found Best’s black Chevy SUV down an embankment off the roadway.
Best will be prosecuted in Teton County.
He’s currently being held without bond.
Best appeared remotely, and apparently without a shirt, at his initial court appearance in early December.
A lawyer acting on Best’s behalf asked that Best undergo a mental competency evaluation, and the judge ordered that he do so.
As we reported, authorities say, about 12 hours before the 911 call, Best was found walking around naked in the Swan Valley General Store.
The Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office says he was evaluated and taken to the hospital.
He was later released.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Boise, an E.W. Scripps Company.
