Jessica Currin was found dead in the small town of Mayfield, Kentucky, in 2000, and the man serving a life sentence in the 18-year-old’s brutal murder has been granted a new evidentiary hearing, a quarter of a century after the crime was committed.
On July 29, 2000, Currin disappeared — never to be seen alive again, leaving an infant son behind. In 2008, Quincy Cross was convicted of capital kidnapping, murder, first-degree rape and sodomy, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse, and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
On Thursday, the special judge in the case granted an evidentiary hearing on recanted testimony that will allow Cross’ lawyers to present evidence in an effort to convince a judge to either vacate the conviction or grant a new trial. The hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25.
A new “20/20” episode, “Lost in the Night: Who Murdered Jessica Currin?” airing Friday, Oct. 24, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and streaming the next day on Disney+ and Hulu, examines the case.
You can also get more behind-the-scenes of each week’s episode by listening to “20/20: The After Show” weekly series right on your 20/20 podcast feed on Mondays, hosted by “20/20” co-anchor Deborah Roberts.
Tina Schlosser, a former teacher at Mayfield Middle School, told “20/20” about the startling discovery she made 25 years ago. She said she was checking on some plants behind the school when she came upon Currin’s dead body.
“I saw this shoe laying on the ground, and it was a sandal, and it looked like somebody had just walked out of it or ran out of it,” Schlosser told “20/20.” “I looked to my left and there was a body laying there, and it just floored me to no end. The body had been burned.”
Currin’s body had already started decomposing, authorities said, and there appeared to be evidence of a struggle.
Investigators found a black belt near Currin’s body, and it became a critical piece of evidence in the case. The medical examiner believed it may have been used to strangle her.
Initially, local police arrested the father of Currin’s son and her boyfriend at the time, but charges against both men were later dismissed.
Police also had another suspect on their radar. Just hours after Currin vanished, they arrested Quincy Cross on drug charges. He had already been booked when Currin’s body was discovered.
David James, the former Commissioner of the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation, told “20/20” that deputies saw Cross without a belt.
“The deputy noted that Quincy kept pulling up his pants because he didn’t have a belt on,” James told “20/20.”
Witnesses would later testify that they saw Cross waving his belt around at a party the night Currin disappeared.
Cross was charged after a woman, Victoria Caldwell, came forward and told police that she and others were allegedly present when Cross strangled Currin with a belt.
Currin’s cousin Vinisha Stubblefield would later back up Caldwell’s account even though their stories differed on some details. Cross has always maintained his innocence.
Tamara Caldwell, Victoria’s cousin, and Jeffrey Burton were also implicated in the crime and charged with murder, kidnapping and rape. They each entered an Alford plea, which allows a defendant to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence, but acknowledges that the prosecution has enough evidence to likely secure a conviction.
Tamara Caldwell and Burton were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter and abuse of a corpse. Burton was sentenced to 15 years, but he served seven years, while Caldwell was sentenced to 10 and served almost 6.
Victoria Caldwell and Stubblefield were both charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. They both pleaded guilty, with Caldwell being sentenced to five years and Stubblefield getting seven years.
Their sentences were reduced after they agreed to testify against Cross — Caldwell served a little over two months and Stubblefield served six months.
At Cross’ trial, the prosecution called more than 30 witnesses, including Victoria Caldwell, who was the prosecution’s star witness.
The jury deliberated for only three hours before convicting Cross. He later received a life sentence.
The Kentucky Innocence Project — an advocacy group that works to free people they believe have been wrongly convicted –has since taken on Cross’ case. Whitney Allen, one of Cross’ lawyers with the group, told “20/20” that they are actively working to free him.
“There were a lot of markers of potential wrongful conviction,” she told “20/20.” “We believe we have the evidence to exonerate him and walk him out of prison. So that’s our goal.”
The Kentucky Innocence Project filed a motion to get Cross the new evidentiary hearing that was just granted. It included an affidavit from Stubblefield stating she lied at Cross’ trial and has no knowledge of Currin’s murder. It also referenced a call Victoria Caldwell had with the group where she said that she lied at the trial.
In a joint interview with “20/20” correspondent John Quinones, Currin and Cross’ fathers spoke about how they have joined forces in support of Cross.
“Everybody thinks that this is an odd couple. We [are] not an odd couple, because we want the same thing. He wants justice for his daughter. I want justice for my son,” David Cross said.
Joe Currin noted that it’s about finding the truth.
“Justice for Jessica would be finding the real people that murdered her,” he said.
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