On a tragic January evening in Hazard, Kentucky, the life of 12-year-old Taylor Jade Cornett was cut short in a burst of violence that also claimed the lives of her father and a cousin. Taylor, a sixth-grade student at R.W. Combs Elementary School, was a vibrant and caring young girl, known for her love of basketball and her compassionate nature, often volunteering at her church to help cancer patients.
The incident unfolded in the parking lot of Hazard Community and Technical College on January 15, 2013. Taylor, along with her 53-year-old father, Jackie Doug Cornett, had accompanied her 20-year-old cousin, Caitlin Paige Cornett, to exchange custody of Caitlin's two-year-old son with the boy's father, 21-year-old Dalton Lee Stidham. A custody hearing had taken place just the day before. In the midst of what should have been a routine exchange, Stidham opened fire on the vehicle occupied by the Cornett family.
Jackie and Caitlin Cornett were pronounced dead at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds. Taylor was found in the back seat, critically injured. She was rushed to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries the following day, January 16, 2013. The two-year-old child was unharmed in the attack.
Dalton Lee Stidham turned himself in to the police shortly after the shooting. He reportedly admitted to the crime, stating that he 'snapped.' Authorities discovered that Stidham had purchased the semi-automatic pistol used in the shooting just hours before the deadly encounter. He was subsequently arrested and charged with three counts of murder. An indictment for the murders followed, bringing the case into the judicial system.
