Justice for Jessica: Couey Found Guilty

A jury in Miami deliberated for almost four hours today before returning guilty verdicts in all charges against John Evander Couey in the kidnapping, rape and murder of nine-year-old Jessica Lunsford. The same jury will now hear testimony in the penalty phase of the trial, beginning next Tuesday, to determine if convicted sex offender Couey will receive a death sentence.

Couey was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling with battery, kidnapping and sexual battery of a child less than 12 years old.

On Feb. 23, 2005, John Evander Couey entered the Homosassa, Florida, home of Jessica Lunsford's grandmother, where she and her father lived, through an unlocked door, and convinced Jessica that he was going to take her to where her father was staying overnight with a girlfriend.

Couey took Jessica to his bedroom in his sister's mobile home about 150 yards from the Lunsford doublewide. He raped the nine-year-old and kept her in a small closet over the next three days. Forensic evidence introduced at the trial, showed Jessica's fingerprints on a wall in the closet and her DNA, mixed with Couey's semen, on a mattress from the room.

When police began searching the neighborhood with search dogs, and actually came to the mobile home where Couey was holding Jessica, he panicked and decided to get rid of her. He dug a hole in the ground near the back steps of the mobile home.

Buried Alive

Telling her he was going to take her back home, he put Jessica into two garbage bags and buried her alive in the backyard. Evidence showed that she tried to punch holes in the bags with her fingers to keep from suffocating.

Couey then fled the area and was later found in Augusta, Georgia, where he confessed to the crime and told investigators where they could find Jessica's body.

The jury in the trial never heard his original confession or that he told police where to find the body, because he asked for an attorney and did not receive one before confessing.

Jessica's Legacy

From the beginning, when the nine-year-old was missing, the Jessica Lunsford case grabbed national attention and daily coverage from cable news networks as the search for her continued for three weeks.

When it became apparent that Jessica had been kidnapped by a convicted sexual offender who moved into the neighborhood without registering or reporting his presence, the case became a catalyst for toughening the laws for sex offenders across the country.

Because of the high profile of the Jessica Lunsford case -- and the efforts of her father, Mark Lunsford -- the U.S. Congress and several states have passed new laws tightening the penalties for convicted sexual offenders, repeat offenders and for those who fail to register.

Background:
The Jessica Lunsford Case
The Jessica Marie Lunsford Foundation

Poll:
Should Sexual Offenders Wear Tracking Devices?

See Also:
Prosecution & Defense Rest in Lunsford Murder Trial
Prosecutors Wrap Case Against John Couey