Lillie Stanton

Background

Lillie Stanton was 49 and lived at a house on Vaught Road in Winchester, where she lived with her daughter and granddaughter. Her daughter was Danel Korrey Stanton, 23, and her granddaughter was Kaydence Ray Miers, 22 months old.

Lillie Stanton’s motive involved fear that Kaydence’s father, Jonathon Miers, was about to gain more visitation time.

Lillie Stanton was described as having self-inflicted wounds after the killings and she was taken for treatment.

The offence

On May 20, 2012, Lillie Stanton killed her daughter, Danel Korrey Stanton (23), and her granddaughter, Kaydence Ray Miers (22-month-old).

Lillie Stanton told police that she lifted Kaydence Miers from a bed where she was sleeping, carried her to the basement, and slit her throat. She also told police that she cut Danel Korrey Stanton’s throat and that, when that was not successful, she suffocated her.

Lillie Stanton admitted to Winchester police that she slashed the victims’ throats because she feared that Kaydence’s father, Jonathon Miers, was about to gain more visitation time.

Lillie Stanton also admitted that she cut her own throat and wrists after the killings.

Investigation

Winchester Police Capt. James Hall said Lillie Stanton’s statement made from the hospital matched what she said later.

Officers confiscated several blood-covered knives from the home and sent them to the crime lab for analysis. There were no previous reports of violence in the home.

Police arrived after a possible DOA call made at about 5:30 p.m. Sunday and found Danel Korrey Stanton and Kaydence Ray Miers in a bedroom. Lillie Stanton was conscious when officers arrived.

At the time of an initial report, no arrests had been made and police did not identify any suspects.

Arrest

Lillie Stanton was airlifted to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital for treatment of her self-inflicted wounds.

Police arrested her at the hospital after she admitted to the slayings.

Trial

Lillie Stanton pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, thus avoiding the death penalty.

During a sentencing hearing, Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse asked Stanton to tell him what happened. After a long pause, Stanton said: "I killed my daughter and granddaughter."

Stanton declined a Herald-Leader request for an interview.

Sentencing

On February 20, 2014, Clark Circuit Judge William Clouse pronounced the sentence and the sentencing took less than 30 seconds.

Lillie Stanton was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Appeals

No appeals information appeared in the provided material.

Outcome

Lillie Stanton avoided the death penalty by pleading guilty and receiving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole on February 20, 2014.

Aftermath

Lillie Stanton’s former husband, Robert Stanton, arrived home in late afternoon on May 20 and discovered the killings. He then called police.

During the initial investigation period, neighbor Warren Sutton said he often saw Korrey Stanton pushing her daughter around the neighborhood in a baby carriage and described Kaydence as “She was a pretty little thing; she had blonde hair down her back and she was just beautiful,” Sutton said of the youngster.

Mary Sutton kept shaking her head saying, "It's crazy. It's just crazy. I don't understand it."

Neighbor Angel Jackson said the women had lived in the house next door since before Jackson moved to Vaught Road four years ago.

Jackson said Robert Stanton lived periodically with the three when he was not on the road working.

Jackson reported that when her fiancé went outside to mow the yard about 5 p.m. Sunday, he noticed Robert Stanton in front of the Stanton home. When her fiancé asked an upset Stanton what was wrong, Stanton told him, "I don't want to talk about it," Jackson said. Jackson said her fiancé overheard Stanton say on a cellphone call, "They're all dead."

Funeral arrangements for Kaydence Miers were to be in Oklahoma, where her father has family, and services for Danel Stanton were to be private.

Lillie Stanton was released Wednesday afternoon and brought to the Winchester Police Department, where she was interviewed again and then jailed on two counts of murder. She still wore a bandage on her neck and casts on both wrists as detectives walked her to the Clark County Detention Center Wednesday afternoon.

Court officials said Lillie Stanton would probably be arraigned in Clark District Court.

Other details

Lillie Stanton was 48 in the May 24, 2012 reporting and 49 in the February 20, 2014 reporting.

A final custody hearing was scheduled for Wednesday between Danel Stanton and Jonathon Miers in Clark Family Court.

In an arrest citation, Lillie Stanton said she thought about taking 23-year-old Danel Korrey Stanton and 22-month-old Kaydence Ray Miers out of state, but did not have the money. She said she thought “killing them was the best thing to do,” according to the citation.

In an initial report, police were called to Vaught Road about 5:30 p.m. Sunday to investigate "a possible DOA," Hall said. The three lived together in the Vaught Road house.