Who is Dakota Hill? Kentucky man gets 50 years behind bars for killing GF's daughter, 4, and stuffing her body in a suitcase
SHELBY COUNTY, KENTUCKY: Serenity McKinney, a four-year-old girl was brutally murdered by her mother Catherine, and her boyfriend Dakota Hill in Kentucky. After the killing, they dumped the body in a suitcase and threw it in a wooded area close to Jefferson and Bullitt counties. It was the little girl’s maternal grandfather who reported her missing and told the authorities that they hadn’t seen Serenity since Christmas Eve of 2020. He informed that he talked with her around Father’s Day in 2021, but didn’t share anything about her location.
As per WDRB, the couple Catherine McKinney and Dakota Hill refused to cooperate with investigators after their arrest. Police record shows Serenity’s manner of death as a homicide, however, the cause of death was ‘undetermined,’ as per October 2022 medical examiner’s report.
Who is Dakota Hill?
Dakota Hill, a 28-year-old man from Kentucky, confessed to killing his girlfriend’s daughter Serenity McKinney, four, and stuffed her body inside a suitcase. He also pleaded guilty to abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
“I'm sorry for the way my actions have affected the lives of your family. And I understand no amount of time will bring Serenity back but I hope that it will help you heal,” Hill told in court. Adding, continued, “I have to learn to forgive myself on the long road ahead, but I also ask for your forgiveness as well, because, although some day I may be free again, I know that only forgiveness would truly set me free. I'm so sorry for the loss that I have caused to your family and I pray for you all in your time of grief and suffering."
Hill, is set to serve 50 years behind the bars after a court ruling on July 6. Catherine McKinney, too, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on April 14, and was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
'He had no remorse'
Many members of Serenity’s extended family were present throughout the court proceedings. "How do you put justice on a 4-year-old little girl that was murdered the way that she was? When I think about justice and my granddaughter, you just can't put them together. It just doesn't come together because she deserved more. She deserved to live her life," Melody Roller, the child’s paternal grandmother said.
Charleen Gadd, Serenity’s paternal great-grandmother, spoke outside the courthouse, “He had no remorse. He didn't show any tears. He didn't. He read a statement probably somebody else wrote for him, is the way I feel.”
