murder of Jessica Lunsford
2005 CE.
Shown on the map at 28.783°, -82.617°.
Jessica Marie Lunsford (October 6, 1995 – February 27, 2005) was an American girl from Homosassa, Florida, who was murdered in February 2005 at the age of nine. Lunsford was abducted from her home in the early morning of February 24, 2005, by John Couey, a 46-year-old sex offender who lived nearby. Couey held her captive over the weekend, during which he raped and later murdered her by burying her alive. The media extensively covered the investigation and trial of Couey. Jessica Lunsford's murder influenced the introduction of legislation in Florida known as Jessica's Law, designed to protect potential victims and reduce a sexual offender's ability to re-offend, which has since influenced similar legislation in 42 other states. On August 24, 2007, a judge in Miami, Florida convicted Couey for the kidnapping, sexual battery, and first degree murder of Lunsford, and sentenced him to death. Couey died of natural causes in 2009.
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