KY - Man charged with murder of woman and her 13-year old daughter - ROWAN COUNTY, Sep 2025

[Clearsky]

Mother, teenage daughter killed in double murder identified; suspect arrested, KSP says

Trooper Zach Haney confirmed to WKYT that Kentucky State Police Post 8 is investigating the deaths of a juvenile and their mother.

www.wkyt.com

First responders arrived at the scene on Spring Street off Flemingsburg Road, the north end of Rowan County, and discovered the bodies of 37-year-old Kayla Blake and her daughter, 13-year-old Kennedi McWhorter.

Kentucky State Police’s initial investigation determined the suspect as Joshua W. Cottrell, 44, of Morehead.

 

[New Penny]

Mother, teenage daughter killed in double murder identified; suspect arrested, KSP says

Trooper Zach Haney confirmed to WKYT that Kentucky State Police Post 8 is investigating the deaths of a juvenile and their mother.

www.wkyt.com

First responders arrived at the scene on Spring Street off Flemingsburg Road, the north end of Rowan County, and discovered the bodies of 37-year-old Kayla Blake and her daughter, 13-year-old Kennedi McWhorter.

Kentucky State Police’s initial investigation determined the suspect as Joshua W. Cottrell, 44, of Morehead.

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Where was this man on April 14,2014 when Kathy Netherland and her teenage daughter were murdered in Bardstown, KY? It is still unsolved…

Edited by me: April 22, 2014, not the 14th.

 

[tlcya]

can you imagine THAT being the last face you see as you are being murdered? shudder.

The Rowan County Coroner’s Office was called to the scene where he pronounced 37-year-old Kayla Blake and her 13-year-old daughter, Kennedi McWhorter, dead at the scene.
Suspect arrested, victims identified in double murder in Rowan County

ROWAN COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - We’re learning more about the criminal history of the suspect in a Rowan County double murder case.
[snip]
According to court records, Cottrell was also charged in the 2003 death of Richie Phillips. Cottrell admitted to killing Phillips and stuffing his body in a suitcase
Suspect in murder of Ky. mother, daughter served time for killing man, stuffing body in suitcase

Cottrell was accused of murdering 36-year-old Richie Phillips in an Elizabethtown motel room. Then, he stuffed his body into a suitcase and dumped it. A fisherman found that suitcase floating in Rough River Lake in Breckinridge County eight days after Phillips' family reported him missing.
[snip]
He was given a 20-year sentence, but with credit for time behind bars before the trial, he was released after 2 1/2 years in prison.
Rowan County double murder suspect showcases a criminal background

Former Grayson Co. resident accused of killing woman, her young daughter in Morehead | K105

Killing of Guin Richie Phillips - Wikipedia

I wonder how (if) the perp knew the victims? I am hoping he wasn't a boyfriend or love interest of the mother's. Not that it matters I guess, dead is dead no matter how he came to be there He can't claim self defense or that his recent victims were trying to SA him I wish he'd been convicted of murder in his first case, rather than manslaughter. He premeditated that victim's murder IMO.