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Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
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Profile |
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Name: John
"Johnny"
Evander Couey
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Sex: Male |
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Race: White |
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Age Now: 50 |
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Height: 5'4'' |
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Weight: 125 lbs. |
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Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Gray / White
May have a mustache, beard or goatee |
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Eyes (Color and Correction): Blue |
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Wanted for :
Probation Violation, Citrus County, FL
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Location(s) |
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Last Seen : Savannah, GA |
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Possible Location : Florida
Georgia |
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Last Known : Unkown |
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Traits |
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Is a registered sex offender |
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Case Story |
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Jury To Decide If Couey Receives Death Penalty Or Life Imprisonment |
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Prosecutor Peter Magrino says that the circumstances surrounding Jessica Lunsford's death calls for the maximum sentence. Mental health experts must prove that John Couey was aware of what he was doing when he kidnapped, raped and murdered the 9-year-old child.
Couey's lawyers argue that the convict's brain is abnormal, causing him to suffer from uncontrolled sexual urges and aggression. However legal experts say that understanding why someone did something is different from excusing the action. Art Caplan, a bioethicist at the University of Pennsylvania, says, "Neurobiology doesn't yet support being able to make precise inferences from a scan of somebody's responsibility." Unlike DNA or fingerprint evidence, neuroscience is new. |
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A Forensic Pathologist Describes How Jessica Lunsford Died |
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Jessica's body was found in a shallow hole, encased in two black trash bags behind Couey's trailer. Her wrists were bound with speaker wire, and she held a purple stuffed dolphin that her father had won for her at the county fair. Medical Examiner, Dr. Steven Cogswell, testified that Jessica's injuries were consistent with sexual assault and concluded that she suffocated after being buried alive. Jessica managed to poke two fingers through the plastic bags before she died.
A forensic pathologist speaking for the prosecution described how third-grader, Jessica Lunsford, would have died. He explained that her oxygen levels would drop, carbon dioxide levels would increase, and she eventually would have lost consciousness. The weight of the dirt on top of her would have compressed her chest, causing her to take in shallow breaths. A minute or so later, she would have suffered brain damage.
Prosecutor Peter Magrino said, "She was put in not one, but two different garbage bags with her wrists bound together with speaker wire and with that stuffed dolphin that her father had gotten for her. I submit to you that cold, calculated, premeditated circumstance applies to this case." |
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Couey Had Already Been Convicted As A Sex Offender |
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A majority of the 12 jurors must be in favor of either life in prison or death. Couey, 46, already had a long list of past convictions on his rap sheet. He had been arrested on many occasions for drug violations and was a habitual user of crack cocaine. Prior to Jessica's murder, Couey had been convicted as a sex offender. He was living just 150 yards from the Lunsford home, but had failed to notify local authorities of his new address, as required by law.
Mark Lunsford, Jessica's father, works with the group, "Stop Child Predators," advocating an integrated nationwide sex offender registry and tougher penalties for noncompliance. Jessica's killing prompted Florida and a number of other states to pass new laws cracking down on sex offenders, and to improve tracking them through databases and satellite positioning devices. |
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