Student, 14, charged in math teacher's death

Authorities in Danvers, Mass., yesterday charged a 14-year-old high school student in the murder of a math teacher at the school, after finding her body in the woods.

The student, Philip Chism, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and was ordered held without bail in a brief proceeding at Salem District Court, according to the clerk's office.

Chism has been charged as an adult, which could subject him to a longer prison sentence if he is found guilty of killing Colleen Ritzer, 24.

Massachusetts law allows people as young as 14 to be charged as adults in murder cases.

Police in Danvers began an investigation late on Tuesday after receiving calls that a student at the school and a teacher had not gone home, Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said yesterday.

After discovering blood in a second-floor bathroom, police searched the woods behind the school, where they found Ritzer's body.

"It was apparent that she was a homicide victim," Blodgett said. "This is a terrible tragedy."

Ritzer is the second U.S. instructor this week to die in an incident involving a student, after a Nevada middle school teacher was shot dead by a 12-year-old student on Monday.

Investigators from the local medical examiner's office yesterday carried a stretcher out of the woods where Ritzer's body was found.

Chism was found walking along a highway about 12:30 a.m. yesterday.