LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The woman accused of killing her 4-year-old daughter in 2020 has changed her plea to guilty on Friday.
Court documents show Catherine "Abby" McKinney accepted an offer from county attorneys to change her original plea of not guilty.
McKinney and her boyfriend, Dakota Hill, were charged with the murder of her daughter Serenity McKinney.
Kentucky State Police found Serenity's body in West Point, Kentucky in February of 2022. An autopsy showed she was found in a suitcase filled with a sand-like substance and she had fractured bones.
After years of torture, Serenity's grandmother, Melody Roller, finally got to hear a guilty plea. Though she's glad McKinney took accountability, she says it will never bring her closure.
"When it comes to my granddaughter, there is no justice," Roller said. "There is no amount of time that anybody could serve that I would have any type of closure as far as that goes."
Roller watched in a Bullitt County courtroom as McKinney plead guilty to manslaughter in her granddaughter's death. She also pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
McKinney now faces 12 years behind bars and will be eligible for parole after serving ten.
As part of the plea deal, commonwealth attorneys removed the murder charge in exchange for McKinney testifying against her boyfriend during his trial.
"It's an agreement we made to secure her testimony in the case involving Dakota Hill," Commonwealth Attorney Bailey Taylor said
Hill is the one responsible for Serenity's death, according to McKinney, adding that she and her daughter were victims of his alleged abuse.
McKinney is set to appear in court again on April 26 for sentencing. Hill's trial is expected to begin in June.
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