A Kentucky man who was convicted of manslaughter years ago is now facing murder charges after a mother and her teenage daughter were found dead in their Morehead home last week. Joshua Cottrell, 44, has been charged with two counts of murder and one count of tampering with physical evidence in connection with the deaths of Kayla Blake, 37, and her 13-year-old daughter, Kennedi McWhorter.
The bodies were found on the morning of September 19 after Blake didn’t show up for work, reported Scripps News Lexington. A worried coworker went to the house on South Spring Street to check on her and called police. When Rowan County Sheriff’s Office deputies got there around 11:00 a.m., they found both victims dead inside the home. Rowan County Coroner John P. Northcutt said they were dead at the scene.
Court documents say Blake had multiple stab wounds and looked like she had been stabbed and beaten. McWhorter was found dead across the hall and had also been stabbed. The complaint warrant says Cottrell stabbed Kennedi on purpose, which caused her death. Police say evidence at the scene, including blood found all over the home, linked Cottrell to the killings. The complaint also says Cottrell moved the victims’ bodies after the stabbings, changing the physical evidence at the scene.
Previous conviction raises concerns about repeat offender
Cottrell’s arrest has brought attention to his criminal past. In 2003, he was accused of killing 36-year-old Richie Phillips in an Elizabethtown motel room. Cottrell stuffed Phillips’ body into a suitcase and threw it in Rough River Lake in Breckinridge County. A fisherman found the suitcase floating in the water eight days after Phillips’ family reported him missing.
NEW MUG: Joshua Cottrell, the man accused of stabbing a mother and her daughter to death in their Rowan County home, has been booked into the Montgomery County Detention Center. pic.twitter.com/LbC1DGnlAQ
— LEX 18 News (@LEX18News) September 25, 2025
During the trial, Cottrell admitted to killing Phillips but said it was self-defense. He told the court he was afraid of being raped. Even though prosecutors wanted a murder conviction, a Hardin County jury found him guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, along with theft and evidence tampering.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in March 2005 but got out after serving 17 years, which included credit for time served before the trial. Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet officials confirmed he finished his Mandatory Reentry Supervision on October 28, 2019.
Police found Cottrell at a Paducah area hospital on the afternoon of September 19, almost five hours away from Morehead. When they found him, police saw blood on his clothes. He was treated, released, and then charged. Cottrell is now being held at the McCracken County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. But WKYT reported Cottrell and Blake were dating when the murders happened, though police have not officially confirmed how they knew each other. The horrific double murder in Kentucky has shocked the local community, with neighbors saying they are scared and sad about the loss. Cottrell’s arraignment is set for September 29 in Rowan County.
