A 26-year-old man pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday in the abduction and killing of a 20-year-old Jacksonville woman back in January 2011.
Kenneth Thompson was charged with murder last month in the death of Michelle McCoy, who was abducted and then found dead about three weeks later on February 3, 2011. He was returned to Duval County from state prison in Suwannee County.
McCoy’s body was found mutilated: her fingers and thumbs had been cut from her hands and one leg was nearly amputated, according to a medical examiner report.
Thompson’s next court date is set for January 17.
He was serving a life sentence for stealing cell phones from a Metro PCS store back in January 2011. Investigators said the robbery is connected to McCoy’s death.
“We believe Kenneth and Michelle were acquaintances, they knew each other," Lt. Rob Schoonover, of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, said last month when they announced Thompson is charged with murder.
"She was in possession of a stolen item, a phone. We believe he was trying to get that phone back," he said.
According to Thompson’s arrest report, he and his uncle Larry Wayne Thompson, 52, lured McCoy into a Chrysler minivan the night of January 10, 2011. She was reported missing on January 13, and her body was found on February 3 in the 3900 block of Ribault River Lane, a Northside lot.
According to a police report, Kenneth Thompson admitted he helped kidnap McCoy, but Larry Thompson strangled, pistol-whipped and drove over McCoy with a minivan.
Larry Thompson, a convicted rapist, committed suicide during a SWAT standoff about a week after McCoy’s body was found.
Kenneth Thompson is the first person charged with murder in McCoy’s death. Back in March he went on trial for the cell phone robbery. Lt. Schoonover said they wanted to get that charge out of the way and then proceed with the murder charge later.
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