News and Music Discovery
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Two Indicted for 1999 Murder

Marcus Obal, Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 3.0

A Greenville woman whose 4-year-old daughter died in a fire 13 years ago and a family friend have been charged with murder in the girl’s death. Kentucky State Police officials say an Ohio County grand jury indicted Virginia Whitfield of Greenville and Tony Lear Tuesday after finding new evidence. They were also charged with two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree arson. Police say the child died in October 1999 from injuries she suffered in a fire a month earlier in Beaver Dam. Two other children escaped but did suffer smoke inhalation. Police are still investigating and say more arrests are likely.

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
Related Content