John Couey was a sex offender who was convicted of murdering 9-year-old Jessica Marie Lunsford, whom he buried alive behind his home in Homosassa, Florida.
Jessica was a third-grade student at Homosassa Elementary School who enjoyed listening to songs by Pink and Shania Twain and singing karaoke, especially with her father, Mark Lunsford.
Mark was a truck driver.
On the night of Feb. 23, 2005, he spent the night with his girlfriend, but he returned home the following morning because he had to get ready to go to work.
When he arrived at the double-wide trailer he shared with his parents on South Sonata Avenue, he noticed the front door was unlocked. Just as he was about to hop in the shower, he heard Jessica’s alarm clock going off.
Mark went to her bedroom to turn it off, but then he realized that Jessica wasn’t in her room, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
He woke up his parents and asked if Jessica was with him. When they said she wasn’t, they began looking for her.
When they were unable to find her, they contacted the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office and reported Jessica missing, which prompted a massive search by law enforcement.
It was then that they learned that there were 208 registered sex offenders in Citrus County, and 50 of them were living within 50 miles of Jessica’s home.
Couey, who was 46 years old at the time, immediately became a suspect. He was a career criminal who had an infatuation with young girls.
In 1991, he was arrested for attempting a lewd act on a 14-year-old at a Big Lots in Crystal River, Florida. He was also convicted of exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl, according to OCALA.
Authorities stated that his address was registered miles away from Jessica’s, but he was actually living 65 yards away on West Snowbird Court with his half-sister and three other people.
When they went to his house, he wasn’t there. They were told that he had gone to Georgia on March 4, 2005, because he wanted to look for a job in that area.
Investigators thought it was suspicious that he had purchased a plane ticket in someone else’s name.
On March 18, 2005, Couey, who had an IQ of 78, was arrested on unrelated charges in Augusta, Georgia. While he was in custody, investigators questioned him about Jessica’s disappearance.
Couey told them that he knew nothing about it.
Meanwhile, the Citrus County police searched his home and collected several items, including a blood-stained mattress and pillow, clothing, and a letter inside a briefcase.
An analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement tested the evidence. It was later determined that the blood found on the mattress belonged to Jessica and Couey.
It was also reported that Couey’s semen was found on the mattress.
After taking a lie detector test, Couey confessed to murdering Jessica after he kidnapped her and sexually assaulted her.
Couey told investigators that around 3 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2005, he broke into the Lunsfords’ mobile home through the unlocked front door with the intention of robbing them.
But as he tiptoed through the dark hallway, he said he changed his mind and went to Jessica’s bedroom.
He said he would often watch her playing outside with her toys.
When he woke her up, he said “don’t yell or nothing,” and then made a hand gesture that would indicate to her that he wanted her to follow him.
Jessica got out of bed wearing a pink nightgown and white shorts. She wasn’t wearing any shoes when she followed Couey to his trailer.
She was also clutching onto the purple stuffed dolphin that her father had won for her at a state fair several weeks prior.
Couey said he took Jessica to his bedroom and sexually assaulted her later that evening.
The following morning, he said he sexually assaulted her again.
The Citrus County police said Couey held her captive over the weekend, and he instructed her to stay in his bedroom closet while he went to work at Billy’s Truck Lot.
On Feb. 26, 2005, Couey said he tied Jessica’s hands with speaker wires, and afterward, he told her that if she got inside two garbage bags, he would take her home.
She obliged.
Authorities asserted that Jessica stepped into one garbage bag and crouched down, while the other one was pulled over her head.
Instead of returning Jessica to her family, Couey took her to the backyard, where he had previously dug a two-foot hole, and dumped her inside while she was still alive—head first.
Just shortly before 4 a.m. on March 19, 2005, law enforcement found Jessica’s body inside the garbage bag with her fingers sticking out of it.
An autopsy showed that Jessica died from suffocation, two to three minutes after she was buried alive.
The medical examiner also ascertained that her gastrointestinal tract was practically empty, which meant that the last time Jessica consumed food was “twelve hours and three to four days before death.”
There were also traces of cocaine on her body.
Couey was charged with capital murder, burglary with battery, kidnapping, and sexual battery on a child younger than 12.
Although Couey confessed to the killing, it was thrown out because he didn’t have a lawyer present.
Following a lengthy trial, Couey was found guilty, and he was sentenced to death.
At 11:15 a.m. on Sept. 30, 2009, Couey died at the age of 51 at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, from a terminal illness.
“I was a little disappointed,” said Citrus County Sheriff Jeffrey J. Dawsy. “I really wanted the state of Florida to put John Couey to death. I wanted to look into his eyes when they injected him with the serum.”
Just over a month before his death, the Florida Supreme Court was supposed to hear his automatic appeal.
On Sept. 1, 2005, the Jessica Lunsford Act was passed as law. The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office stated that it “requires electronic monitoring for certain sexual offenders placed on supervision.”
“And will require the courts to order electronic monitoring for designated sexual offenders and predators who violate probation or community control.”