Courtney Taylor getting new lawyer, hearing date

A Williamsburg woman, who allegedly killed her husband and her two teenager daughters while they slept in January, is getting a new attorney.

Courtney Taylor is charged with three counts of capital murder in the Jan. 13 killings of her husband and two teenage daughters.

Courtney Taylor, 41, is charged with three counts of capital murder in the Jan. 13 shooting deaths of Larry Taylor, 56, Jesse Taylor, 18, and Jolee Taylor, 13.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in her case.

Roger Gibbs, who headed the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy’s regional office in London, had been serving as an attorney for Taylor since shortly after her arrest.

However, Gibbs filed a motion to be relieved as counsel of record in the case on Sept. 18 noting that he planned to retire from the Department of Public Advocacy on Oct. 1.

Special Judge Jeffrey Burdette signed an order on Sept. 28 allowing Gibbs to withdraw from the case.

Ron Findell, a long-time public defender assigned to Whitley County, will continue representing Taylor.

Burdette noted in his order Thursday that Teresa Whitaker would be entering her appearance and joining Findell as Taylor’s legal counsel.

Taylor, who has been housed at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women at Pee Wee Valley, had been scheduled for a pre-trial conference this past Friday in the case, but Burdette postponed that hearing until Nov. 1 at 9 a.m.

He ordered that Taylor be transported to the Whitley County Detention Center this past Friday in order to meet with her new attorney for one hour in a secure area of the facility.

Burdette’s order calls for the commonwealth attorney’s office to provide defense attorneys with estimated time frames relevant to all matters of discovery, including the not limited to coroner’s reports and lab results prior to the Nov. 1 hearing.

Taylor is scheduled to stand trial on April 16, 2018. There are no indications whether her trial may be delayed due to the change of defense counsel.

Two weeks have been set aside for the trial.

Courtney Taylor is also charged in a separate indictment with two counts of first-degree wanton endangerment for pointing a 9mm handgun at Whitley County Sheriff’s Deputy Jonas Saunders and Sgt. James Fox, who responded to her residence to investigate the shooting.

Saunders shot her twice with his service weapon when she allegedly pointed a gun at him. Courtney Taylor was in the hospital for about two weeks before being released and taken to the Whitley County Detention Center.

She was later transferred to the Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women at Pee Wee Valley, which is a women’s prison with a hospital unit.

According to the Whitley County Detention Center’s website, Taylor was transferred there Thursday morning and as of Tuesday morning was still lodged there.

She is being held in lieu of a $1 million bond. So far defense attorneys haven’t filed any motions for a bond reduction in the case.