Boy, 10, found dead in car trunk in Louisville; mother charged with murder

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WAVE) - A woman has been charged with murder stemming from domestic violence and tampering with evidence after the body of her son was found in the trunk of a car.

Louisville Metro Police Department officers were called to the 1200 block of Algonquin Parkway around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday. A 911 caller told dispatchers a woman had a gun and a dead boy wrapped in a blanket.

Responding officers found Kaitlyn Renee Higgins, 28, of Louisville, on the porch and blood on the front steps. Believing someone was in immediate danger, police opened the trunk of a car that Higgins said was hers and found the body of her 10-year-old son.

The arrest report says that after being given her Miranda rights, Higgins “admitted to attempting to cut the victim’s tongue out of his mouth.” She then admitted to shooting her son and placing him in the trunk of the car.

“I heard the gunshots last night. I did. I didn’t know,” Tayler Alexandra, who was nearby during the shooting, told WAVE 3 News. “I was on the phone with my friend.”

Alexandra said her friend heard the gunshot through the phone call as well.

“Oh my God, it felt very close to home,” she said. “I felt like I wish I could’ve saved the child. I know I heard those shots. Is there something I could’ve done?”

Miah Lancaster, the child’s babysitter, hurried to the house Wednesday morning when she found out what happened.

“This should’ve never happened,” Miah Lancaster, the child’s babysitter, said. “[He] was so smart. He was a beautiful kid and literally just stayed in his room and played games. I’ve never had an issue with [him] ever. He was a sweet, loving child. He was such a good boy.”

Lancaster said she wanted to check on a toddler that also lived at Higgins’ house, but no one appeared to be home.

“This is so unfair. This is so unfair,” Lancaster said. “She had plenty of people, if she was struggling, to drop him off. We would’ve cared for him. We would’ve cared for him. One call is all it would’ve taken.”

Lancaster says she hopes the younger sibling, doesn’t become a victim of such a heinous act; she has even offered to take care of the child.

However, that situation may be up to the court, depending on how Higgins pleads to the judge.

Sen. Morgan McGarvey said with these types of egregious crimes, House Bill 310 seems to be a statute that will serve its purpose. The bill passed in March aims to help keep repeat offenders off the streets and in treatment.

“There was a crack in the law that said if you’re not competent to stand trial but you won’t respond to treatment, then you’re let go,” McGarvey explained. “What we notice is there are people danger to themselves to others who still need that treatment.”

Higgins has been booked into Louisville Metro Corrections and is being held on a $250,000 cash bond. She will be arraigned Thursday morning.

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