Ezekiel James Watkins was charged on Monday by the King County Prosecutors Office with first degree murder in the death of Renton resident Kathy Chou.

Remains were recovered in an area Watkins led investigators to on Sunday and are believed to be those of Chou’s. An official identification is still pending an investigation by the King County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Watkins, who was a suspect in the murder of 19-year-old Chou more than a year ago, took Renton detectives on July 6 to the isolated area where he told them he stabbed her to death.

He was arrested on that day at Renton City Hall for investigation of first-degree homicide.

Search teams looked last week in the area of Boulevard Lane Park near 124th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 186th Street in southeast Renton.

The search was focused on private property, not far from Meeker Middle School.

Watkins pointed out two likely locations where he and a friend buried Chou’s body late on April 18, 2010. However, in the intervening months brush has grown up in the extensive open area, making pinpointing an exact location difficult.

Watkins also was interviewed about a week after Chou’s disappearance; he told investigators he had spent the night at a friend’s house, which the friend substantiated. He told detectives he received a text from her on April 18, saying she was at Southcenter.

Chou’s family and friends last heard from her the evening of April 18. She had just returned from a Lindbergh High field trip to Oregon. She was a Lindbergh senior at

the time of her death.

Renton Police detectives made extensive use of cell-phone records and text messages in their initial investigation, which is spelled out in documents prosecutors will use in charging Watkins.

Watkins is being held on $1 million bail at the King County Jail in downtown Seattle, following an initial court appearance Thursday.

The Renton Police Department’s case against the Watkins is made in what is called a statement of probable cause.

Chou’s parents filed a missing person report with Renton Police on April 19, 2010,  after Kathy Chou didn’t return home the night before after going for a walk at about 7 p.m.

Worried about her, Chou’s father called her cell phone at about 9 p.m. but had to leave a message. About a half hour later, he received a text message, saying she was at Southcenter and would be home soon. He found the text strange because Kathy knew her parents weren’t familiar with texting. Several texts also were sent to one of Chou’s friends, which indicated she was at Southcenter.

However, “reveal records,” which show approximately where a cell phone is physically when a call is made, make it clear Chou’s cell phone was never near Southcenter. Those same records show the cell was on for about two hours near 127th Avenue Southeast and Southeast 192nd Street, in the area where the current search took place.

On May 1, 2010, an extensive search was made in that same area, but nothing was found.

The records also show that during the day on April 18 Chou called her ex-boyfriend, who is Watkins. They texted back and forth 43 times.

The case remained active in the intervening months, with no real breaks until June 23.

On that day Renton investigators interviewed the roommate of Watkins’ friend who had confirmed his alibi. The roommate said Watkins showed up at his house at about 11 p.m. on April 18, covered in blood and with dirt on his knees. Watkins told him he had crashed his bike.

The roommate suggested to investigators that they should talk to his roommate, the man who provided the alibi.

The roommate was talking now, more than a year after Chou’s disappearance, because he said Watkins had stolen money from him.

Watkins denied he stole any money, but, the roommate told investigators Watkins didn’t deny his accusation that he had something to do with Chou’s disappearance.

Later on June 23, a detective interviewed the

friend who had confirmed Watkins’ alibi. Watkins had called him at about 9 p.m. April 18, saying he needed a shovel to bury one of his ducks that had died. A couple blocks from Watkins’ home, he handed over the shovel and Watkins rode off on his bike.

About two weeks later, on Wednesday of this week, detectives interviewed Watkins. In that interview, he admitted he stabbed Kathy Chou in the throat, killing her. It happened in a swampy area, near the power lines, just south of his parents’ home.

He had called his friend, the one who confirmed his alibi, asking for help. The two of them dug a hole, about thigh deep. The suspect then buried Kathy Chou in the hole.

After the interview, he took detectives to two spots where it’s likely he buried Chou. Then returning to City Hall he was arrested. During two more interviews, he described in graphic detail how he had killed Kathy Chou.

He told detectives he had been thinking about luring Chou to this swampy area “and stabbing her because she had been causing trouble in his life by threatening his new girlfriend and trying to have his new girlfriend beaten up by Chou’s friends,” according to the probable-cause documents.

He said the two men covered the shallow grave with plastic garbage bags, then layers of dirt, plywood, garbage bags and wood. They then spread water from the swampy area over the grave.

Later Wednesday, the second man confirmed Watkins’ details. He also took detectives to the site. He was arrested then released. Charges are still possible, according to a spokeswoman for the Renton Police Department.