Welcome to Arrest Stories. A forty-four-year-old man with a history of manslaughter has been charged with double murder after a mother and her teenage daughter were found dead in their Morehead, Kentucky home during a welfare check. Here's what may have happened.
Friday morning started as a routine day until thirty-seven-year-old Kayla Blake failed to show up for work. Concerned about her absence, a coworker decided to check on Blake at her home on South Spring Street in Morehead. What they discovered would shock this quiet Rowan County neighborhood forever.
At approximately eleven a.m., a nine-one-one call came in from the person performing the welfare check. By ten-fifteen a.m., the Rowan County Sheriff's Office arrived to find what officials described as "two obvious deceased individuals" - Blake and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Kennedi McWhorter.
While investigators processed the horrific crime scene, Joshua Cottrell was more than three hundred miles away at a Paducah area hospital in McCracken County - nearly five hours from Morehead. Around one p.m., just hours after the bodies were discovered, Cottrell was arrested at the medical facility after receiving treatment.
"Cottrell was released from hospital at about two p.m. then arrested," according to official reports. He now faces two counts of murder and one count of tampering with physical evidence. Currently lodged at McCracken County Jail, Cottrell's arrest has added another dark chapter to his criminal history - he previously served time for manslaughter.
The tragedy has devastated the close-knit community. One neighbor reflected on the victims, saying "Really great family. The mother took pictures of our daughter and gave them to us, really, really sweet lady." Another resident expressed the collective shock: "It just gives you chills. This is going to hit everybody hard."
Kentucky State Police confirm "the investigation is ongoing" as the community mourns the loss of a mother and daughter whose lives were cut tragically short.
All suspects presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Do not take this report as factual, always verify facts. Thanks for watching Arrest Stories.