MOREHEAD (09/23/25) — More information has been released regarding a double-murder case in eastern Kentucky which led to the arrest of a former area resident. A State Police complaint warrant indicates 37-year-old Kayla Blake and her 13-year-old Kennedi McWhorter were found stabbed to death in their Morehead home last Friday. 44-year-old Joshua Cottrell was arrested in Paducah later in the day in connection to the deaths. He’s being held in the McCracken County Jail on a one-million dollar cash bond.
Left to Right: Kayla Burke, Joshua Cottrell, Kennedi McWhorter (Sources: WKYT Television, McCracken County Jail)
Cottrell was convicted in 2005 on manslaughter charges in the 2003 death of Hardin County resident Richie Phillips, whose body was found stuffed in a suitcase floating in Rough River Lake. He served only two-and-a-half years of a twenty-year prison sentence.
