Courtney Taylor sentenced to life without parole Wednesday for killing family

The legal case against a Williamsburg woman, who allegedly killed her husband and two teenage daughters in their southern Whitley County home on Jan. 13, 2017, is now officially closed.

Courtney Taylor being lead into the Whitley Circuit Courtroom in February.

On Wednesday morning, Courtney Taylor, 44, was officially sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the killings of her husband, Larry Taylor, 56, and her two daughters, Jesse Taylor, 18, and Jolee Taylor, 13.

On Feb. 19, Courtney Taylor, 44, entered an Alford plea to three counts of capital murder in the shooting deaths.

An Alford plea means that a defendant still maintains their innocence but acknowledges that prosecutors likely have enough evidence to convict them at trial.

Prosecutors had planned to seek the death penalty during her scheduled March 2 trial, but instead recommended a sentence of life without any possibility of parole in exchange for her plea.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions, Taylor’s sentencing hearing Wednesday was done via a Zoom video conference with Special Judge Jeffery Burdette appearing in Pulaski County, and Taylor, and her attorneys appearing from the Whitley County Detention Center.

During trial, jurors would have been able to hear a nearly 90-minute statement that Courtney Taylor gave to police from her hospital bed days after the shooting that explains in part why she killed her husband and her two daughters.

Part of the reason she killed her husband was that she blamed him for going through most of her more than $250,000 worker’s compensation settlement in a few months although the money was in an account in her name only, according to a portion of her statement to police that was played in open court during a July hearing.

“She will never walk free again. She will be confined for the remainder of her life” Special Prosecutor Jackie Steele said after Taylor’s Feb. 19 plea in Whitley Circuit Court.

The Alford plea was agreed to in part because Taylor claims that she can’t remember the shooting.

Steele said when he examined the case, he determined that there were three factors, which lend credence to Courtney Taylor’s claim that can’t remember anything about the shooting.

“One is the drug use, which she said she participated in trying to commit suicide that day. Whether or not she did, I don’t know. The second thing is where she was shot twice in effectuating her arrest. Posttraumatic trauma syndrome is a possibility where there can be memory loss. Also, she had multiple surgeries and was under anesthesia for the two gunshot wounds for several days after the events, which can also cause some memory loss,” Steele explained.

“Taking those three factors, there was a possibility that she couldn’t remember anything. The fact that I resolved on is the fact that she will never walk out of prison. This will effectuate safety for the community and satisfy the commonwealth.”

Steele said that he spoke with the victim’s family multiple times about the plea and the Alford plea, and they were satisfied with the outcome.

He said the family understood that even if a jury gave Courtney Taylor the death penalty, in all probability she would die in prison of natural causes before being executed.

“The main thing they wanted was to make sure she could never walk out of prison also,” Steele said.

Defense attorney Joanne Lynch said earlier this year that Taylor hopes the plea agreement can bring some closure for people.

“I think the judge said it well. This has been a long journey. I think everyone, including Courtney, hopes that this gives everyone a sense of closure and allows people to have some peace. I think that may be the most important thing that comes out of court today. If that can happen, that is one of the best things that can come out of court,” Lynch said.

“The Alford plea allows an individual when they are charged with an offense to be able to acknowledge the weight of the government’s case, but at the same time to negotiate a settlement in good faith and that is what Courtney has done in this situation,” Lynch explained.

Taylor was 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.

Attorneys for the two sides agreed Wednesday morning to submit an agreed order dismissing those charges as part of the plea agreement.