Jessica Lunsford

Infobox Person
name = Jessica Lunsford


image_size = 175px
caption =
birth_date = birth date|1995|10|06
birth_place = Gastonia, North Carolina
death_date = death date and age|2005|02|27|1995|10|06
death_place = Homosassa, Florida
parents =

Jessica Marie Lunsford (October 6, 1995 – February 27, 2005) was a nine-year-old girl who was abducted from her home in Homosassa, Florida in the early morning of February 24, 2005. Believed held captive over the weekend, she was raped and later murdered by 47-year-old John Couey who was living nearby. The media covered the investigation and trial of her killer extensively. On August 24, 2007 a judge in Inverness, Florida sentenced Couey, a convicted sex offender, to death for kidnapping, raping and murdering Jessica.

Abduction, rape and murder

Couey alleged in an audio/videotaped confession that he had abducted, raped, and murdered Jessica Lunsford. [ [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0607/11/ng.01.html Partial transcript of Video Confession of Couey] , CNN.com] A judge ruled on June 30, 2006 that Couey's audio/videotaped confession was inadmissible in court because, at the time the confession was recorded, police had not granted Couey's requests for access to a lawyer, thereby rendering the confession invalid and unreliable under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Over Couey's objection, the trial court ruled that all evidence collected after the confession, including the recovery of Lunsford's body, would be allowed in court, as would any incriminating statements allegedly made by Couey to investigators and a jail guard. [ Ross, Jim. [http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/30/Citrus/Judge__Couey_confessi.shtml "Judge: Couey confession out"] "St. Petersburg Times", 30 June 2006.]

Couey's confession alleged the following:

Couey entered Lunsford's house through an unlocked door at about three o'clock in the morning, awakened Lunsford, told her "Don't yell or nothing," and told her to follow him out of the house.Bruno, Anthony. [http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/predators/jessica_lunsford/7.html Jessica Lunsford: Death of a 9 year old"] , CourtTV CrimeLibrary]

Couey occupied a trailer along with two women, convert|100|yd away, at the time of Lunsford's abduction. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/23/lunsford.report/index.html "Drifter says he held girl three days"] , CNN.com, 24 June 2005] He admitted in a videotaped and recorded deposition to raping Lunsford in his bedroom. Lunsford was kept in Couey's bed that evening, where he raped her again in the morning. Couey put her in his closet and ordered her to remain there, which she did as he reported for work at "Billy's Truck Lot". Three days after he abducted her, Couey tricked Jessica into getting into two garbage bags by saying he was going to 'take her home'. He instead buried her alive as he decided he could do nothing else with the girl. He said he 'Didn't want people seeing him and Lunsford across the street.'

On March 19, 2005, police found Lunsford's body at a residence located on West Sparrow Court, buried in a hole approximately 2 1/2' deep and 2' circular, covered with leaves. The body was removed from the ground and transported to the coroner's office. Her body had undergone "moderate" to "severe" decomposition and according to the publicly released autopsy reports was skeletonized on 2 fingers that Lunsford had poked through the bags before suffocating to death. The coroner ruled that death would have happened even in best circumstances within 2-3 minutes from lack of oxygen.

Arrest of John Couey

After approximately three weeks of intense searching for Lunsford around the area of her home, John Couey, age 47, [ Perez, Mabel. [http://www.ocala.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060701/NEWS/60701001/-1/news17 " Judge throws out Couey confession"] , "The Ocala Star Banner", 1 July 2006.] was arrested in Savannah, Georgia for an outstanding warrant of cannabis possession, but he was released after questioning because it was only a local warrant. He was later arrested in Augusta, Georgia.

On March 18, 2005, Couey confessed to having kidnapped and murdered Lunsford. On March 19, 2005 police found Lunsford's body buried in a hole, covered with leaves, near a residence on West Sparrow Court.

On March 7, 2007, Couey was found guilty in Florida of all charges in relation to Lunsford's death, including first degree murder, kidnapping, and sexual battery. On March 14, 2007, the jury in Couey's trial recommended the death penalty. Couey's case now is on appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. The constitutionality of admitting evidence collected after the unconstitutional "confession" is expected to be the main issue in the appeal. Couey continues to maintain that he is innocent of the charges

On August 24, 2007, Couey was sentenced to the death penalty, in addition to 3 consecutive life sentences.

Jessica Lunsford Act

Following her death, her father Mark Lunsford pursued new legislation to provide more stringent tracking of released sex offenders. The Jessica Lunsford Act was named after her. It requires tighter restrictions on sex offenders (such as wearing electronic tracking devices) and increased prison sentences for some convicted sex offenders. [Ramirez, Jessica. "The Abductions That Changed America", "Newsweek", 29 January 2007, pp. 54–55.] Jessica's Law refers to similar reform acts initiated by the states.

Joshua Lunsford sexual offense case

Ironically, almost two years after Mark Lunsford's nationwide campaign to significantly increase the sentences and release conditions for sex offenses, Jessica Lunsford's older brother, Joshua Lunsford, was charged in Clark County District Court with "unlawful sexual conduct with a minor." The incident involves a 14-year-old girl outside of the Upper Valley Mall in Springfield, Ohio. [ [http://www.whiotv.com/news/13392593/detail.html " Brother of Jessica Lunsford Faces Sex Charges"] , "WHIO TV", 25 May 2007.] [ [http://www.nbc6.net/news/13413509/detail.html " Jessica Lunsford's Brother Charged With Sex Crime"] , "South Beach NBC 6".] [ [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-05-31-lunsford-arrest_N.htm "Lunsford's brother charged with a sex crime"] , "USA Today".] Joshua Lunsford was 18 at the time. [ [http://www.chronicleonline.com/articles/2005/07/19/news/news30.txt " State attorney says computer records don't warrant charges"] , "The Citrus County Chronicle".] Joshua wore a shirt emblazoned with a photograph of his slain sister to court on the day that he originally plead "not guilty". [ [http://www.nbc6.net/news/13413509/detail.html "Jessica Lunsford's Brother Charged With Sex Crime"] "NBC 6"] which has become a source of significant criticism against the Lunsfords. [ [http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2008/02/bubba-accuses-m.html "Bubba the Love Sponge Accuses Mark Lunsford of Exploiting His Daughter's Rape and Murder"] "Tampabay.com blogs"] In July 2007, Joshua Lunsford accepted a plea bargain in which the original charge of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a felony offense subject to sex offender registration, was dropped to a misdemeanor charge of unlawful sexual conduct. [ [http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/18/Worldandnation/Lunsford_s_son_senten.shtml "Lunsford's son sentenced in fondling case"] , "St. Petersburg Times".] He was ordered to undergo "sex offender assessment," but the law under which the plea was made does not call for mandatory sex offender registration. The outcome of this case has caused significant controversy, especially in light of the fact that child pornography was found on Mark Lunsford's computer by police in Florida shortly after Jessica Lunsford was murdered, yet Mark Lunsford was not prosecuted for possession of child pornography. [ [http://marklunsforddidyourcomputerchildporn.blogspot.com/ "Mark Lunsford's computer had child pornography on it"] , "Excerpt from Citrus County Chronicle, 2005-07-19, no longer available online".] [ [http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2007/06/state-attorney-says-computer-records.html "State attorney says computer records don't warrant charges"] , "Sex Offender Issues article archive".] [ [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-10-lunsford-case_x.htm "Jury selection begins in Lunsford murder trial"] , "USA Today".] [ [http://angryoffender.com/library/fl_child_porn_found_mark_lunsford_comp__ccc.pdf "State attorney says computer records don't warrant charges"] "Citrus County Chronicle (PDF copy of original article, archived at AngryOffender.com)"]

Wrongful death / negligence lawsuit

On February 19, 2008, almost three years to the day after her kidnapping and murder, Jessica's father was represented by Jacksonville, Florida lawyers in a pre-trial brief filed against the Citrus County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. [cite news | url=http://www.bizjournals.com/jacksonville/stories/2008/02/18/daily31.html | title=Local attorney plans suit on behalf of Lunsford family | date=February 21, 2008 | accessdate=2008-02-27] After receiving notice of the pending suit, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy stated that he believed the case to be "baseless... There is only one person in the world that should be held responsible for Jessica Lunsford's death and that's John Couey." [cite news | url=http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=103005 | title=Lunsford Plans to Sue Sheriff's Office | date=February 21, 2008 | accessdate=2008-02-27]

Following complaints and suggestions from Citrus County residents that the pending litigation was being pursued out of greed and that had he been a better father his child may still be alivecite news | url=http://www.abcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=50383833-bf05-4016-8f3c-a31ca6b0b040 | title=Mark Lunsford to reveal new details of his lawsuit in Jacksonville today | date=February 25, 2008 | accessdate=2008-02-27] , Mark Lunsford and Jacksonville-based attorneys Eric Block and Mark Gelman held a news conference in Jacksonville, where it was stated that the pending litigation was "not for the money... but for change." Lunsford stated that changes were needed in procedures and policies. It is alleged that Couey had Jessica Lunsford alive in the trailer while Citrus County officials visited the trailer, that police dogs indicated Jessica was being held in the direction of the trailer and were ignored, that Citrus County officials actively pursued Mark Lunsford's father as their prime suspect while evidence pointed elsewhere, and that had Citrus County officials followed up on an outstanding warrant issued by Georgia, that Citrus County officials could have entered Couey's residence and possibly saved the child. Such inactions or lack of follow-up is believed to have led to her death.cite news | url=http://www.abcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=50383833-bf05-4016-8f3c-a31ca6b0b040 | title=Mark Lunsford to reveal new details of his lawsuit in Jacksonville today | date=February 25, 2008 | accessdate=2008-02-27] [cite news | url=http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2008/02/26/bts.lunsford.lawsuit.bay | publisher=CNN | title='Not about the money' | date=February 26, 2008 | accessdate=2008-02-27] [cite news | url=http://www.abcactionnews.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=[e-mail]&navCatId=3 | title=Mark Lunsford's allegations announced and Sheriff Jeff Dawsy's response | date=February 26, 2008 | accessdate=2008-02-27]

On February 28th, 2008, Mark Lunsford made a phone appearance on the Bubba The Love Sponge Show to defend his viewpoints.

[http://www.btls.com/bubbavslunsford.html Webpage on Lunsford's conversation with Bubba The Love Sponge]

References

External links

* [http://www.jessicamarielunsfordfoundation.com Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation]
* [http://www.courttv.com/trials/lunsford/ Court TV coverage of Jessica Lunsford case]