A rural Kentucky home apparently became a “target” before someone killed the woman living there, and suspects left an open line to 911 that captured them lamenting her death.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office charged McCoy Chaney, 20, with murder in connection with the death of 70-year-old Sherri Mitko, along with robbery in the first degree and burglary in the first degree. Officials booked him in the Pulaski County Detention Center and held him on a $1.5 million bond.
Authorities also charged two teenagers with murder in connection with the case.
Just after midnight on Aug. 12, deputies with the sheriff’s office arrived to conduct a welfare check at a residence on Lower Line Creek Road in Pulaski County, Kentucky. The rural area sits about a 2½ hour drive from Louisville.
Someone had called 911, and on an open line, two individuals could be heard, according to regional CBS affiliate WKYT. One person said, “We should not have killed her, let’s get out of here.”
When deputies went inside the home, they found Mitko dead; a preliminary report determined that she died from multiple gunshot wounds.
The sheriff’s office said its detectives were “pursuing several leads” and had “identified persons of interest.” On Sunday, officials charged the two teens with murder, and they charged Chaney the following day.
One of the teens — a 15-year-old boy — confessed to invading the home and robbing it along with a 17-year-old boy, the area TV station reported. He allegedly said Chaney took them to the home and that the 17-year-old shot the woman.
They apparently left the area with $240 and some alcohol.
Chaney suggested that he did not know what the boys were going to do.
“It was told to me that I was supposed to be going to drop them off to a friend’s house and let them pick something up that they left there after they stayed there,” he said, per WKYT. “And then I ended up hearing the gunshots go off. So I knew something wasn’t right. I knew something else was going on.”
“I wanted to leave, but I have been threatened before, like, ‘oh, if you leave, we’re gonna find you, we’re gonna hurt you,'” he added. “‘If you say anything, we’re gonna hurt you.'”
According to Chaney’s account of events, the teens got back in the car and demanded he leave.
Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones said Mitko’s house was “targeted” — though it is unclear why — and that at least some of the suspects “had been to this house previously.”
A teary Chaney said he only reconnected with the teens about a year ago when “they ran into me at Walmart.” He stated he then “stayed away” for a while because “I’m trying to keep myself out of any trouble.”
Chaney is scheduled to appear in court on Aug. 24.
Mitko’s obituary says she “enjoyed making a wide range of things for her friends and family; like wedding dresses, baked goods, and encouraging advice.” She worked as a substitute teacher.
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