In the quiet landscape of Wentworth, Missouri, a routine delivery turned into a tragedy that cut short the life of 23-year-old Jasmine Sky Taylor. A resident of Joplin, the young woman was working as a delivery driver for Amazon on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 5, 2025, when her life took a devastating turn.
What was initially reported as a single-vehicle accident, with Taylor's Amazon van crashing into a fence off a county road, soon revealed a much more sinister reality. It wasn't until she was at Mercy Hospital in Joplin that medical personnel discovered the true cause of her condition: a bullet wound to her head. The projectile, later identified as a pellet from a pellet gun, was lodged in her skull. For four days, she fought for her life, but ultimately succumbed to her injuries on Sunday, February 9, 2025, surrounded by her family.
The investigation into the shooting quickly led law enforcement to Thomas Coy, a 64-year-old man whose home Taylor was approaching at the time she was shot. Video footage from the Amazon van captured the heartbreaking moment Taylor slumped over in the driver's seat as she neared Coy's driveway. The evidence painted a grim picture of the events that followed the shooting. Investigators reported that after shooting Taylor, Coy removed her from the delivery van and placed her in a ditch along the roadside.
During a post-Miranda interview with officers from the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office, Thomas Coy confessed to the shooting. He was subsequently arrested and initially charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. Following Jasmine Sky Taylor's death, the charges against Coy were upgraded to first-degree murder and armed criminal action. He is being held in the Lawrence County Jail without bond. While a motive for the shooting has been established by law enforcement, it has not been publicly disclosed, though robbery has been ruled out. Court records indicate that Coy was arraigned on these new charges and was scheduled for a preliminary hearing.
