A Murder in Mayfield: The Case Against Quincy Cross
Jessica Currin's 2000 killing has haunted Kentucky for decades—but after recanted testimony and a victim's father's doubt, questions linger about who really killed the young mother.
On July 29, 2000, 18-year-old Jessica Currin vanished from Mayfield, Kentucky, leaving behind an infant son. Two days later, a schoolteacher discovered her body behind a local middle school. The victim—a single mother who had earned her GED and was the daughter of local fire lieutenant Joe Currin—bore the marks of a savage attack: blunt head trauma, strangulation, and evidence of burning. A black braided belt lay near her remains.
The initial investigation cast a wide net. Authorities arrested Jeremy Adams, the father of Jessica's baby, charging him with murder. Her boyfriend, Carlos Saxton, was charged with complicity to commit murder. Both men pleaded not guilty, and within months, prosecutors dismissed the charges against them.
It would be eight years before another arrest. In 2008, Quincy Cross was charged with capital kidnapping, murder, first-degree rape, sodomy, tampering with physical evidence, and abuse of a corpse. The case against him rested heavily on witness testimony. Victoria Caldwell claimed she was present during the killing. Vinisha Stubblefield, Jessica's cousin, provided corroborating testimony. Other witnesses testified seeing Cross without a belt and waving a belt at a party the night Currin disappeared. A jury convicted him, and Cross received a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Cross has maintained his innocence, stating he never knew the victim. His case has since become the subject of intense scrutiny.
Now, more than two decades after the murder, the case is unraveling. Victoria Caldwell and Vinisha Stubblefield have both recanted their testimony. They now say they lied and do not know who killed Jessica Currin. The Kentucky Innocence Project has taken up Cross's cause, and he has been granted a new evidentiary hearing. The recanted testimony strikes at the heart of the prosecution's case—leaving prosecutors with far fewer witnesses to support the conviction they maintain remains valid.
