Kathy Coy

Case details

Kathy Coy was a defendant in a case involving the killing of a pregnant acquaintance and the removal of the baby from her womb. Coy later pleaded guilty but mentally ill and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

The offence

Coy slayed 21-year-old Jamie Stice, a pregnant acquaintance. Coy cut Stice’s unborn son from Stice’s womb alive from her womb, and Stice’s body was later found disembowelled, with her throat and wrists slashed, and her wrists bound and slit. Coy used a stun gun to subdue Stice after luring her out of the house by saying they were going baby-supply shopping.

Police described that after Coy stunned the expectant mother, she slit her wrists, cut the baby from her body, and brought the baby, a uterus, ovaries and a placenta to a local hospital. Police said the umbilical cord was still attached.

Coy initially told police she gave birth to the boy, then said she bought him for $550. Coy also showed up at a hospital after arriving with the infant, but showed no signs of having given birth. After the killing, Coy drove to the home of a friend and said she had given birth to the baby. The friend told troopers that Coy was in a car, wearing no pants and sitting on the placenta while holding the baby, who had grass on him. The friend called for an ambulance after helping to clean the baby and taking a picture of the newborn.

Investigation

Police searched Coy’s home and computer and found links to two pregnant women on her Facebook page. Investigators found one of the women unharmed but could not find Stice.

Police later found a stun gun and two knives believed to have been used in the attack.

Coy eventually led detectives to a wooded area off a dirt road where Stice’s remains were found. Police found Stice’s remains face down on the ground, disemboweled with her hands tied behind her back the next day.

A detective statement included the question:

“I then asked Ms Coy if that baby was Jamie Stice's,' Kentucky State Police detective Chad Winn had said at an earlier hearing. 'She answered "I don't know," I was alarmed by this.'”

Arrest and detention

Coy was arrested after showing up at a hospital with a newborn baby, but showed no signs of having given birth. Coy was later held in the Warren County Regional Jail without bond.

People

Defendant

• Kathy Coy (also described as Kathy Michelle Coy), 34, of Morgantown. She pleaded guilty but mentally ill.

Victim

• Jamie Stice, 21, of Bowling Green. Her body was found in a wooded area off U.S. 68-Ky. 80 near Oakland, and later described with her throat cut, wrists bound and slit, and she was disembowelled.

Victim’s child

• Isaiah, named in coverage as Isaiah Allen Stice Reynolds and also described as surviving and living with his father. Police said the baby survived and lives with his father, and spent every other weekend with Stice’s family. Coverage said the boy was born five weeks premature and lived with his father.

Family and associates

• Eric Stice, 29-year-old brother of Jamie Stice, who said: “It's heartbreaking, heartbreaking. We'll just make sure Isaiah has the best life we can offer him. We owe that to my sister.”
• Jeannie Stice, Jamie Stice’s mother, who said after Coy entered her plea: “I don't know that there will ever be justice, but this is better than nothing,” and who later said: “I want the death penalty,” and: “Jamie's whole family wants the death penalty. I want the death penalty because I want her to see the judge tell her, ‘You are going to sit on death row for the rest of your life in jail,' and I want Isaiah, Jamie's baby, to know that her family fought all the way for her.”
• Terry Stice, Jamie Stice’s father, who said he was grateful Coy admitted her guilt and led police to his daughter’s body.
• James Reynolds, described as the baby’s father, who said: “I feel like as much justice was served that could be served.”
• Kathleen Smith, described as the paternal grandmother of Isaiah, who read a statement saying: “If you knew Jamie, you couldn't help but love her.”
• Carolyn Miracle, described as Jamie Stice’s cousin, who said: “Jamie Stice had been 'ready to be a mommy' when she was slain.” Miracle also said: “Kathy Coy decided she would play God and took our Jamie from us,” and “There's no amount of time you can give Kathy Coy that would be enough. There is a higher court that will judge Kathy.”
• Jeannie Stice was also described as having had “her heart stomped on” by Coy.
• Ashley Reeder, described as a friend of Jamie Stice, who said: “She was desperate to prove to everybody that she was pregnant, and I guess nobody believed her,” and “So I think she did this to show everybody that she was going to have the baby when it really wasn't her baby,” and also said: “I shouldn't be making memorial pages for people who are so young,” and “She was very outgoing, very loving, always smiling.”
• Cathy Nahirny, senior analyst for the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, who said: “They are all eerily similar,” and: “What happens is this bonds him to her, and so he stays,” and “Now she has to perpetuate a ruse of being pregnant,” and: “It’s very disturbing,” and: “They’ll use different means to obtain their target, which is the victim mom,” and: “They all put their personal twist on things. They are all good at the con. That is how they get through their lives, through lying, manipulation and deceit. “It’s that calculated, and it’s that cold,” and: “Any person who commits a crime has to justify it in their mind, and that would be one way to do it.” and: “The miracle in the whole thing is that the baby made it.”
• Ann W. Burgess, a doctor of nursing science at Boston College, who said: “It’s that calculated, and it’s that cold,” and “Any person who commits a crime has to justify it in their mind, and that would be one way to do it.” and “This last case, I found it quite horrendous,” and “Every (kidnapping) is horrible,” and “But these are particularly gruesome. There is a general perception in our society that women are not capable of committing violent crime when in fact, women do commit violent crimes.”
• Detective Chad Winn, Kentucky State Police detective, who was described as the lead detective and said “group effort” about fellow detectives and testified at earlier hearings.
• Warren Circuit Judge John Grise, who said: “Here, however, was evil at work,” and also stated that “The word evil is used even for small disagreements or disputes, and is overused by attorneys and judges.”
• Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris Cohron, who said: “I have struggled more than I have in any other case from the standpoint everything in my heart told me the only resolution for Ms. Coy was the death penalty,” and: “But because Kentucky rarely executes people on death row, and many death convictions are overturned, a guilty plea with a sentence of life without parole is a ‘logical resolution.’” and: “I have struggled more than I have in any other case from the standpoint everything in my heart told me the only resolution for Ms. Coy was the death penalty,” and “What we anticipate is prior to the Feb. 20 date, we will file a pleading when the final decision is made to seek aggravated sentencing,” and: “We always take the victims' wishes into account in any capital case, but the final decision rests with my office,” and: “I want the death penalty,” was said by Jeannie Stice (not Cohron), and: “In any case, you look at the nature of the crime, the defendant's criminal record, you look at all the facts surrounding the event, and it's one of those things that any time we have sought aggravated sentencing in a case, it's always been a clear decision,” and: “The trial is expected to last four weeks.”
• Psychologist Eric Drogin, who testified that he met with Coy and that she suffers from a mental illness.
• Butler County hospital friend identified as “Shelly Lindsey” (in one account), who said Coy arrived “without pants” and sitting on the placenta while holding the baby, and Coy asked for a picture to be sent to “her ‘husband’ Shannon Coy.”
• Shannon Coy, described as Coy’s husband on Facebook at the time.
• Thurman Coy, described as calling Kathy Coy his “ex” daughter-in-law and declining to comment about the case in April.
• Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby, who was quoted as saying: “We've still got some other tests that we are doing, toxicology and things like that, and we're still waiting on the results of those,” and: “multiple homicidal sharp-force injuries.”
• Ashley Nicole, friend of the victim, who said: “Jamie fell in her trap,” and “I’m still in shock. It is unimaginable,” and “She [allegedly] kidnapped her, killed her and then cut her baby out of her.”

Trial

Coy pleaded guilty but mentally ill. An emotional Coy pleaded to three counts: murder, capital kidnapping and kidnapping. The plea agreement avoided a possible death penalty by providing life in prison without parole.

Coy showed no reaction in the courtroom and did not speak during sentencing after deputies led her from the courtroom.

At sentencing, statements were made by members of Stice’s family including:

“The death penalty would be too merciful for you,” Smith said.

Sentencing

Coy was sentenced to life in prison without parole on February 28, 2012. The sentencing included remarks by Warren Circuit Judge John Grise, including:

“The word evil is used even for small disagreements or disputes, and is overused by attorneys and judges.”
“Here, however, was evil at work,” Grise said.

Prosecutors said Coy had befriended Stice on Facebook and used a stun gun to subdue the pregnant woman.

Outcome

Coy pleaded guilty but mentally ill and received life in prison without parole on February 28, 2012. The plea deal spared her possible death penalty eligibility.

Timeline

• April 13, 2011 — Coy arrived at a friend’s Butler County house claiming to have just given birth; police later described that Coy appeared without pants and sitting on the placenta while holding the baby.
• April 14, 2011 — Stice’s body was found in a wooded area off U.S. 68-Ky. 80 near Oakland; police described disembowelment and injuries including throat and wrist cuts and binding; Coy had initially been seen leaving her home with Coy.
• February 17, 2012 — Coy pleaded guilty but mentally ill in Warren Circuit Court to murder and kidnapping-related charges.
• February 28, 2012 — Coy was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• March 1, 2012 — Coverage referenced the sentencing for life in prison without parole and the sentencing hearing timing in reports.
• March 2, 2012 — Coverage referenced the life without parole sentence and details about Coy’s presentation in court.

Other details

Coy was described as twice-divorced and as having children of her own living with other relatives. Coy told detectives she had suffered a miscarriage before the murder, and detectives were never able to fully substantiate that claim. Between the first hearing and later proceedings, police learned Coy had faked many pregnancies in the past and had stalked other pregnant women for years.

It was alleged that Coy asked her teenage son to help her commit murder, and when he refused, she said she was just joking. It was also alleged that Coy had disclosed to her then 13-year-old daughter that she had miscarried and asked for her help in kidnapping a baby; both teenagers refused.

Coy was accused of driving Stice to the wooded area and cutting out the baby from her body using a drywall knife, with her unborn baby surviving. The infant had the umbilical cord, a uterus and two ovaries attached when Coy arrived at the hospital.

Police found Coy’s connection to Stice through Facebook, and investigators searched Coy’s home and computer for links to two pregnant women on her Facebook page.

A case discussion included broader context about fetal abductions being similar in pattern and included expert commentary on such cases and typical abductor behaviors.