Jessica Keen
Encyclopedia
Jessica Lyn Keen was a murder
victim killed in Foster Chapel Cemetery in West Jefferson, Ohio
. Her case was profiled on the television program Unsolved Mysteries
.
was a model student - an honor student and a cheerleader. However, she quit cheerleading and her grades dropped after meeting Shawn Thompson, an eighteen-year-old from Central Ohio. Her parents objected to her seeing Hughes but did not know what to do. They placed her in a home for troubled teens on March 4, 1991.
tests proved he was not responsible. Police theorized that she had escaped her abductors
and ran to the cemetery. Evidence
in the cemetery shows she tried to hide behind grave stones - one of her socks was found, and a knee imprint in the mud behind a grave stone was found with or near the sock. She was killed near a fence in the cemetery, presumably by her abductors, who had followed her.
A cross with her name on it was placed where her body was discovered near the fence in the cemetery.
arrested Marvin Lee Smith, Jr. Smith was charged with unlawful sexual conduct on Keen, a felony
. Smith had an extradition
hearing set for April 30, 2008, to determine whether he would be turned over to Ohio authorities to face charges.
In 2009, Smith admitted to a Madison county courtroom that he had in fact raped and murdered Keen. According to The Columbus Dispatch, who reported the admission February 27, 2009, Smith told the court that Keen had escaped Smith's car and run into Foster Chapel Cemetery, where she collided with a fence post and fell. Smith confessed that he beat Keen to death with a tombstone, then discarded it over the fence nearby. Reports show that police had indeed found bloodied pieces of a tombstone where Smith had indicated.
In exchange for Smith's confession, he avoided a death penalty trial that was set for March. Smith plead guilty to one charge of aggravated murder, with specifications of rape and murder, and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
victim killed in Foster Chapel Cemetery in West Jefferson, Ohio
West Jefferson, Ohio
West Jefferson is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,331 at the 2000 census. Located along U.S. Route 40, the village has a fairly close relationship with the surrounding township, which include various out-of-corporation-limit neighborhoods West Jefferson is a...
. Her case was profiled on the television program Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
.
Before the murder
Jessica Lyn Keen, a fifteen-year-old girl from Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
was a model student - an honor student and a cheerleader. However, she quit cheerleading and her grades dropped after meeting Shawn Thompson, an eighteen-year-old from Central Ohio. Her parents objected to her seeing Hughes but did not know what to do. They placed her in a home for troubled teens on March 4, 1991.
Body discovered
After being missing for two days, Jessica Keen's body was found at the back of Foster Chapel Cemetery, 20 miles from the teen facility. She had been raped and badly beaten. She was still wearing her ring and watch, but a pendant with the word "taken" was nowhere to be found. Her boyfriend was the prime suspect, but DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
tests proved he was not responsible. Police theorized that she had escaped her abductors
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
and ran to the cemetery. Evidence
Evidence
Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion. Giving or procuring evidence is the process of using those things that are either presumed to be true, or were themselves proven via evidence, to demonstrate an assertion's truth...
in the cemetery shows she tried to hide behind grave stones - one of her socks was found, and a knee imprint in the mud behind a grave stone was found with or near the sock. She was killed near a fence in the cemetery, presumably by her abductors, who had followed her.
A cross with her name on it was placed where her body was discovered near the fence in the cemetery.
Arrest
On April 9, 2008, police in Burlington, North CarolinaBurlington, North Carolina
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the city is located. The population was 49,963 at the 2010...
arrested Marvin Lee Smith, Jr. Smith was charged with unlawful sexual conduct on Keen, a felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
. Smith had an extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
hearing set for April 30, 2008, to determine whether he would be turned over to Ohio authorities to face charges.
In 2009, Smith admitted to a Madison county courtroom that he had in fact raped and murdered Keen. According to The Columbus Dispatch, who reported the admission February 27, 2009, Smith told the court that Keen had escaped Smith's car and run into Foster Chapel Cemetery, where she collided with a fence post and fell. Smith confessed that he beat Keen to death with a tombstone, then discarded it over the fence nearby. Reports show that police had indeed found bloodied pieces of a tombstone where Smith had indicated.
In exchange for Smith's confession, he avoided a death penalty trial that was set for March. Smith plead guilty to one charge of aggravated murder, with specifications of rape and murder, and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.
External links
- Foster Chapel Cemetery and the Jessica Keen Memorial
- The Keen case on the Unsolved Mysteries website
- Reward For Tips To Help Solve 15-Year-Old Murder Mystery from the Ohio Attorney General's Office