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Jeremy Best found fit to continue court proceedings

Best is "fit to proceed" following a mental competency evaluation.

VICTOR, Idaho — Jeremy Albert Best, 48, was charged with an additional count of first-degree murder for the death of his 10-month-old son Zeke Gregory Best, according to an indictment filed on Dec. 18. The added charge brings the total number of murder charges against the Idaho man to three. 

Following a mental competency evaluation ordered by the court, Best has been found fit to continue in court proceedings. The court is expected to reschedule soon. 

Best was previously charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of his pregnant wife, Kali Jean Best, and the unborn child she was pregnant with in a hearing on Dec. 4. At the time, there were no charges yet filed in regard to Zeke's death.

Count one of the indictment states that Best "deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought" killed Kali by “shooting her with a firearm and causing her death.”

Count two states Best killed Kali's unborn baby by shooting and killing Kali "and thereby causing the fetus’s death."

The third count states that Best killed his 10-month-old son Zeke by “inflicting an injury on Zeke Gregory Best’s neck using a knife and thereby causing his death.” It is still unclear when or where Zeke died.

In addition to the three counts of murder in the first degree, he was also charged with three counts of use of a firearm or other deadly weapon during the commission of a crime.

RELATED: Court documents reveal mental state of man charged with murdering pregnant wife, unborn child
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As KTVB previously reported, on Thursday, Nov. 30, Teton County Sheriff's Office deputies were dispatched to a home located at 4600 Skyline Loop in Victor, where Best's 38-year-old pregnant wife Kali Jean Best was found dead. 

On Dec. 1, an AMBER Alert was issued for Zeke Best.

The following morning, officers with the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office located Best after a group of hunters found him on the side of the road in a sleeping bag. The caller said the man "was naked and making odd statements," according to a news release.

Idaho State Police deputies found the vehicle Best had fled in down an embankment, off the roadway. Officers also located Zeke, who was already dead, according to the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office.

Best's preliminary hearing was postponed on Dec. 14 to allow the Department of Health and Welfare to conduct the mental competency evaluation ordered by the court 10 days prior. He was found competent on Friday, Dec. 22.

He is being held in the Bonneville County Jail without bond. 

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