This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Cumberbund (talk | contribs) at 06:43, 16 August 2006 (rv). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 06:43, 16 August 2006 by Cumberbund (talk | contribs) (rv)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Jessica Marie Lunsford (October 6, 1995 – February 27, 2005) was an American kidnapping, rape and murder victim.
Jessica was abducted from her home in Homosassa, Florida on February 23, 2005. The case of her disappearance and subsequent murder was covered extensively by the media.
Circumstances of the case
After approximately three weeks of intense searching for the young girl in and around the area of her home, a person of interest, now known to be John Evander Couey, was first arrested in Savannah, Georgia for an outstanding warrant of marijuana possession, but was released after questioning because it was only a local warrant. Later Couey was arrested in Augusta, Georgia.
On March 18, 2005, John Evander Couey confessed to having kidnapped and murdered Jessica Lunsford, and is now said to be on suicide watch in a jail in Richmond County, Georgia. Her father, Mark Lunsford, is currently trying to have the suspect get the death penalty. According to police reports, Lunsford was abducted after attending a local church service.
John Couey stated he entered Jessica's house through an unlocked door at about 3am. He awoke Jessica, told her "Don't yell or nothing" and had her follow him. Couey occupied a trailer along with two other women. He admitted in his video taped and recorded deposition to having sexual intercourse with Jessica in his bedroom.. They then both slept nude together and he assaulted her again in the morning., leaving her in the closet with the instructions not to leave. She stayed in the closet the entire day as John Couey reported for work at "Billy's truck lot". never attempting to escape.
On March 19, 2005 at 12:13am, police found Jessica's body at a residence located on West Sparrow Court, buried in a hole approximatley 2 1/2' deep and 2' circular, covered with leaves. The body was removed from the ground at 3:37am and transported to the coroner's office. Her body had undergone "moderate" to "severe" decomposition. and according to the publicaly released autopsy reports was skeletonized on 2 fingers that Jessica had poked through the bags before suffocating to death. The coroner ruled that death would have happened even within 2-3 minutes from lack of oxygen.
A judge ruled on June 30, 2006 that John Couey's taped confession is inadmissible in court and will not be heard by members of the jury. The decision was based on the fact that, at the time the confession was recorded, police had not granted Couey's repeated requests for access to a lawyer. It was ruled that all evidence collected after Couey's confession, including the recovery of Lunsford's body, will be allowed in court, as will incriminating statements made by Couey to investigators and a jail guard.
Response to the case in the media and in the law
The kidnapping and murder of Jessica Lunsford quickly became a media circus. Critics of the media's influence, particularly NBC's Dateline, claimed it was an example of Missing White Woman Syndrome. It became a nightly topic on The O'Reilly Factor, particularly because of Bill O'Reilly's advocacy for the imposition of harsher jail sentences for convicted sex offenders. Journalist Greta Van Susteren also devoted a great deal of time to the case.
On March 30, 2005, the Florida State House Criminal Justice Committee unanimously approved a bill informally named after Jessica Lunsford, which if passed would require the electronic tracking of sex offenders on probation. O'Reilly has supported the bill.
See also
- missing, kidnapped & murder
- Jessica Lunsford Act
- Soham murders Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman
- Elizabeth Smart
- JonBenét Ramsey
- Samantha Runnion
- Shasta Groene
- Danielle Van Dam
- Carlie Brucia
- Laura Smither
- Amber Hagerman
- Megan Kanka
- Polly Klaas
- Sarah Payne
- Polly Klaas
- Judith Barsi
- Billie-Jo Jenkins
- Holly Jones
- Amy Mihaljevic
- Holly Piirainen
- Marcia Trimble
References
Footnotes
Web sites
  | This Floridian biographical article is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |
 | This biographical article related to crime is a stub. You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it. |