(AP) — A registered sex offender has been indicted on murder charges in the death of an 11-year-old Maryland girl whose body was found on Christmas day.

Wicomico County Sheriff Mike Lewis said Tuesday that 30-year-old Thomas Leggs Jr. has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of Sarah Foxwell, whose body was found in a wooded area.

Lewis also said prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Leggs.

Leggs was initially charged with kidnapping and burglary after the girl was abducted from her home on the night of Dec. 22.

The sheriff said the delay in bringing murder charges was because investigators were compelled to be "methodical and deliberate in everything we did" to bring the strongest possible case.

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