LEESBURG, FLA---The day after a jury voted 10-2 in favor of the death penalty for John Evander Couey, convicted killer of 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, the medical examiner in the case abruptly resigned Friday.

Couey, 48, has been convicted of kidnapping, first degree murder, sexual battery on a child under 12 and burglary with battery, burying her alive in two black plastic trash bags.

Steven Cogswell, Lake County medical examiner, had testified during the trial that during the autopsy he found injuries consistent with sexual assault and had concluded that the girl had suffocated after being buried alive, saying that she had managed to poke two fingers through the plastic bags before she died.

Cogswell testified that the little girl was clawing at the black garbage bag she was in when Couey put her in a shallow grave behind the trailer he was living in with his sister. He testified that there was dirt around her fingernails and inside the bag indicating Couey was throwing dirt on her while she was alive.

Couey, a convicted sex offender, killed the child after he snatched her from her bedroom at her Hompsassa home in 2005 about 150 yards from a trailer where he was living. When she was found in March 2005, she was clutching a stuffed toy.

The announcement of Cogswell resignation was made by Sanford Minkoff, Lake County attorney who refused to discuss the reasons for Cogswell's departure, citing confidentiality reasons and also refused to say if the departure was voluntary.

Couey had admitted to investigators after his arrest that he had committed the crime but the confession was inadmissible at trial because although he had requested a lawyer, police questioned him without him having legal counsel.

DNA evidence from Jessica's blood and Couey's semen from a mattress in his bedroom was presented at trial. In addition, her fingerprints were found in a closet in Couey's trailer. Corrections officers and investigators testified during the trial that Couey had admitted killing the child but said he didn't mean to kill her.

The final decision on whether Couey lives or dies will be made by Circuit Judge Ric Howard next month but it's rare that a judge ignores a jury's recommendation. 3-16-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette