Background: South Spring Street in Morehead, Kentucky (Google Maps). Inset: Joshua Cottrell (McCracken County Jail).
A mother and daughter in Kentucky are dead in an apparent double murder, and authorities believe they have the man who did it in custody.
Joshua Cottrell, 44, has been charged with two counts of murder in the deaths of 37-year-old Kayla Blake, and her 13-year-old daughter, Kennedi McWhorter, the Kentucky State Police said.
The defendant also faces a charge of tampering with physical evidence.
On Friday, a coworker of Blake”s went to their home on South Spring Street in Morehead, Kentucky, to check on them because Blake had not come in to work, the Rowan County Coroner’s Office said.
Authorities were called, and first responders arrived to find “two obvious deceased individuals,” though they did not say how they died. Both Blake and her daughter were pronounced dead.
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Cottrell was developed as the suspect, but he wasn’t in Morehead, nor even in its vicinity, state troopers said. The man was in a hospital in the area of Paducah, Kentucky, more than 300 miles west.
At about 2 p.m., Cottrell was released from the hospital, arrested, and booked into the McCracken County Jail.
It is not clear whether the suspect’s injuries had anything to do with the alleged double murder, nor has his relationship with the victims — if there was one — been disclosed by authorities.
Neighbors said their street is quiet, and they expressed shock and sadness over the deaths.
“Really great family,” Robert Suarez III told local CBS affiliate WYMT. “My daughter played softball with her a couple times,” he added, describing Blake as a “really, really sweet lady.”
The multi-agency investigation is ongoing.
