(UPDATED) Naomi Irion kidnapping suspect makes first appearance in Fernley court; held on $750,000 bail
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Wed, 03/30/2022 - 12:45pm
UPDATE 7 p.m.: The criminal complaint filed against suspect Troy Driver alleges that Driver "did willfully seize, confine, inveigle, entice, decoy, abduct, conceal, kidnap or carry away a person by any means whatsoever with the intent to hold or detain, or who holds or detains, the person for ransom or reward, or for the purpose of committing sexual assault, extortion, or robbery upon or from the person, or for the purpose of killing the person or inflicting substantial bodily harm upon the person (...)."
The complaint further states that Driver is accused of abducting Naomi Irion and did hold or detain her for the purpose of committing sexual assault and/or for the purpose of killing her, all of which occurred at or near 1550 E. Newlands Drive, Fernley (the address for the Walmart shopping center).
The body of missing 18-year-old Naomi Irion was found Tuesday in a remote area of Churchill County. On Wednesday the body was confirmed by the Washoe County Medical Examiners Office as Naomi Irion, according to a news release from Churchill and Lyon County Sheriff's Offices.
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On Wednesday afternoon, Troy Edward Driver of Fallon was seen in his first court appearance after being accused of kidnapping the still-missing 18-year-old Naomi Irion.
Driver, 41, was taken into custody last Friday along with a truck thought to be involved in the crime.
At this time, Irion is still missing.
Lyon County Sheriff's Office planned to live stream the arraignment but a few minutes before the proceedings began, the presiding judge Lori Matheus stated they would not allow it.
Lyon County released a statement that it is "against supreme court law to live stream any court proceedings," but the county did not cite which law it was referring to. However, by the accounts of witnesses within the court room, the decision was made by the judge to not allow any live stream.
Irion's family was in attendance at the court hearing.
Just after 12:30 p.m., Driver was arraigned for kidnapping. His attorney stated he and his client would wait on bail arguments.
His attorney told the court that he and his client were not made aware that the media would be at the proceedings, and that he was upset that the zoom link was sent out to the public.
The Lyon County Sheriff's Office published the zoom link to their Facebook page prior to the proceedings. Before the judge stated there would be no live stream, the Zoom meeting and Google Meets meeting were at and near capacity, respectively.
The prosecutor argued that none of Driver's rights had been violated by the presence of the media, and she also stated that the prosecution does not object to bail remaining at $750,000 which was the original amount Driver was booked on. Judge Matheus ordered Driver's bail to remain at $750,000.
If Driver is able to meet the bail amount, he was provided with several provisions to his release including a GPS monitoring device, no contact with the Irion family, he will not be allowed within Fernley except for court appearances, and he will be placed on supervision, including supervision against drug and alcohol usage.
Judge Matheus also stated that there is no requirement to notify the defense or Driver about the media being in attendance, and that all members had been preauthorized.
Irion's family declined the prosecution's offer to make a statement.
Driver is set to appear again on April 5 and April 12.
Irion was last seen in her car in the parking lot while she waited for a shuttle that would take her to work at the Reno Industrial Center where she works at Panasonic. The shuttle usually arrives sometime around 5:30 a.m.
The suspect, who was said to be approximately 6 feet tall wearing a gray hooded jacket, jeans and a mask, came up to Irion’s driver’s side door and said or did something that caused her to move into the passenger seat.
The vehicle then drove out of the parking lot at 5:25 a.m., according to surveillance footage from the Walmart.
Her vehicle was located three days after she was kidnapped, abandoned in an industrial area of Fernley. Evidence inside the vehicle indicated her disappearance was criminal in nature.
This is a developing story.
