BALTIMORE (AP) — A Baltimore judge has denied bail for a man accused of killing a North Carolina teenager who was missing for months before her body was found in a Maryland river.

Prosecutors said Friday that Michael Johnson mentioned in emails and texts that he would flee the country if charged. As a result, Judge John Addison Howard ordered Johnson held without bail.

Johnson has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 16-year-old Phylicia Barnes. He is the ex-boyfriend of Barnes’ half-sister.

He has denied the charges and his attorney calls the case circumstantial.

Prosecutors say Johnson killed Barnes in her half-sister’s apartment, then used a 35-gallon tub to move the body. They say he was videotaped buying the tub and a neighbor saw him carrying it.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.