In a quiet home in Dexter, Maine, the life of a thirteen-year-old White / Caucasian male named Coty Lewis Lake was tragically cut short on June 13, 2011. On that day, Coty, along with his mother, Amy Lake, 38, and his twelve-year-old sister, Monica Raye Lake, were killed by his father, Steven Lake. After taking the lives of his family, Steven then took his own.
The devastating event was the culmination of a history of domestic turmoil.
The morning of the incident, concerns arose when Amy and her children did not arrive at Ridge View Community School, where she was a teacher and her children were students. When an officer arrived at their home to check on them, multiple gunshots were heard from inside. After hours of attempting to establish contact, a state police tactical team entered the residence and discovered the bodies in the living room. A shotgun was found near Steven Lake's body. Investigators also found that a flammable liquid had been spread throughout the house, though it had not been ignited.
The tragedy brought to light a troubled history that preceded the fatal day. A year prior, in June 2010, Steven Lake had been charged with criminal threatening with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence criminal threatening after holding his family hostage at gunpoint. Despite this and multiple violations of a protective order, which included stalking Amy and the children, he was released on what was criticized as a "ridiculously low" bail of $2,000 on two separate occasions. These releases, granted by bail commissioners with minimal training, highlighted significant flaws in the system intended to protect victims of domestic violence and ultimately failed to prevent the tragic outcome for Coty and his family.
