Man formally of Grayson Co. pleads guilty, sentenced for murdering his girlfriend, her teenage daughter

A man formally of Grayson County has pled guilty and been sentenced for murdering his girlfriend and her teenage daughter.

Joshua A. Cottrell, 44, pled guilty in a Rowan County courtroom on Tuesday to two counts of murder and tampering with physical evidence. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

As K105 previously reported, the murders were discovered on Friday, September 19, 2025, at approximately 10:15 a.m. when the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office conducted a welfare check on South Spring Street in Morehead. When deputies arrived at the home, police located two deceased individuals: 37-year-old Kayla D. Blake and her 13-year-old daughter, Kennedi G. McWhorter, both of Morehead.

Cottrell was arrested by Kentucky State Police several hours after the murders in a Paducah area emergency room.

Cottrell, according to a report by WKYT.com, was in a relationship with Blake.

Cottrell’s Grayson Co. connection

According to online records, Cottrell was listed as a Caneyville resident by the McCracken County Detention Center in a September 2023 arrest for public intoxication. His street address was Frank Smith Road, just east of Caneyville off Beaver Dam Road (Hwy 62).

Cottrell, who was 21 at the time and lived in Leitchfield, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in the 2003 killing of 36-year-old Richie Phillips at a motel in Elizabethtown. Phillips’ body was found stuffed in a suitcase by fishermen in Rough River Lake in Breckinridge County, according to media reports from 2003.

Cottrell, who was also found guilty of theft by unlawful taking and tampering with physical evidence, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 2019.

(Photo l-r: Joshua W. Cottrell; Kayla D. Blake, Kennedi G. McWhorter, courtesy of Malone Funeral Home)

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com