PREVIOUSLY: 16-Year-Old Girl Pronounced Dead in Broadway Hotel; Eureka Police Investigating

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A new attorney was appointed this morning for a Rio Dell man accused of murdering a Eureka teenager who died of a methamphetamine overdose in a motel on Broadway.

Tavin Evans and Anthony Burgess

Judge Dale Reinholtsen appointed the Public Defender’s Office to represent Tavin Dee Evans, 20, after the County Conflict Counsel’s Office declared a conflict in the case. Evans’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 8.

Deputy District Attorney Joel Buckingham, who is prosecuting the case, confirmed Evans and 25-year-old Anthony Burgess have each been charged with one count of murder in the death of Alyssa Claybon. The 16-year-old was found unconscious in a motel room on Feb. 8, 2017. Life-saving efforts failed, and the teen was pronounced dead at the scene.

Buckingham said he could not provide details at this time about specifics, or about why it was decided to charge the men with murder.

Evans was arrested on Christmas Eve 2017 after a high-speed motorcycle chase that ended on the Eel River bar near Fortuna. A sheriff’s deputy had tried to pull him over for a traffic violation, and Evans sped off. He eventually drove the bike over an embankment and was caught as he fled on foot. Murder charges against Evans and Burgess were filed last week.

Evans and Burgess may or may not be tried together, as Burgess is serving a seven-year prison sentence for robbing a marijuana dealer at gunpoint.

“The intention is to bring him back,” Buckingham said. 

He said law enforcement is in the process of contacting the state Department of Corrections.