Kentucky Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Mother and Softball-Player Daughter Inside Home

NEED TO KNOW

• Joshua Cottrell, 44, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole

• He pleaded guilty on Tuesday, April 28 to two counts of murder for killing 37-year-old Kayla Blake and her daughter, 13-year-old Kennedi McWhorter

• He also pleaded guilty to tampering with evidence

A Kentucky man who killed a mother and daughter inside their home was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Joshua Cottrell, 44, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, April 28 to two counts of murder and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the deaths of 37-year-old Kayla Blake and her daughter, 13-year-old Kennedi McWhorter.

He was also sentenced to a concurrent five-year term for tampering with physical evidence.

“He needs to be thankful the mother did not want to go to trial and see all of the evidence of her daughter and her granddaughter because that’s the only thing that really saved him, but I feel like he’s begging for his life just like they were begging for their life as he was murdering them,” Kayla Blake’s friend, Lona Kiser told WKYT .

The case came to light on the morning of Friday, Sept. 19, 2025, after someone called 911 requesting a welfare check on Kayla when she didn’t show up to work.

At the home, officers found the bodies of Kayla and Kennedi. According to an arrest warrant obtained by PEOPLE, Kayla was discovered covered on a bed in a back room. She had been stabbed in the head. Kennedi was discovered across the hall with her “throat lacerated and was laying on the floor face up,” per the warrant.

“The defendant also moved the bodies, altering physical evidence which would be produced in an official proceeding with intent to impair its veracity,” the warrant states.

Neighbors allegedly confirmed that Cottrell had been at the home the day before the bodies were found, per authorities. He was later found with blood on his clothing.

According to the warrant, Cottrell has a criminal history and was previously convicted of second-degree manslaughter for killing 36-year-old Richie Phillips when he was 21.

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Kayla worked as a nurse caring for patients receiving treatment for addiction at the Addiction Recovery Institute of America.

Kennedi was remembered in her obituary as a passionate athlete and softball player, a student who excelled academically and a dedicated member of her local church.

"Her love for softball shone through in her performances on both her school and travel teams, where she thrived on the competition and cherished the friendships she built with her teammates," the obituary states.

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