Both of the Richmond women charged yesterday in connection with the fatal shooting of Virginia Commonwealth University student Tyler J. Binsted were ordered held today without bond.

Zsabriela Evelyn Williams, 19, of the 5200 block of Wingfield Street and LaPrecious Nicole Austin, 19, of the 2700 block of Nine Mile Road made separate, brief appearances this morning before Richmond General District Judge Phillip L. Hairston.

Williams, charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Binsted’s death, told Hairston she did not have a lawyer and could not afford one. The judge appointed James L. McLemore to represent her.

Austin, charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, was represented this morning by Wayne R. Morgan, who asked Hairston to set a reasonable bond, citing, among other factors, her family ties to the Church Hill area of Richmond.

But Hairston elected against setting bond for her after Supervising Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth A. Hobbs took note of the violent nature of the crime, as well as Austin’s criminal record.

Hairston set June 19 for preliminary hearings for both defendants.

Last year, Williams was convicted of possession of cocaine, according to Richmond Circuit Court records. She was sentenced to five years in prison, but four years and 10 months of that sentence were suspended. 

She also pleaded guilty to robbery in 2004 for an incident in 2003 in Richmond, when she was 14, according to online records; her sentence for that charge was not immediately available. A charge of use of a firearm in a felony in connection with that 2003 incident was not prosecuted.

Austin was found guilty in 2006 of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute in Richmond, according to court records. She was sentenced to five years in prison, with four years and three months suspended.

Within hours of Binsted being shot to death in Byrd Park on March 27, Howard Reed Scott III, 17, of Silver Avenue in South Richmond was charged with murder and two counts each of robbery and the use of a firearm in a felony. 

“The investigation established three suspects were involved,” Capt. John Venuti, head of the Richmond Police Department’s major crimes unit, said yesterday. “All three are now in custody.”

Tyler Binsted, a native of Mount Jackson, was walking with his girlfriend through Byrd Park in the early morning hours when they were accosted. They were robbed at gunpoint and told to get in the trunk of the girlfriend’s car.

Binsted refused and shut the trunk. He and his girlfriend started walking away and then ran, thinking the situation was over.

Binsted was shot in the back and died. His girlfriend was able to flee. In an earlier interview, she said she believed Binsted saved her life with his actions.

Binsted, a sophomore sculpture major at VCU, was a world traveler and star athlete and played in a band. This month, VCU’s School of the Arts awarded a rising sophomore with the first Tyler Binsted Endowed Scholarship in Sculpture & Extended Media, named in the slain student’s honor.