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Aunt claims body

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 2, 2009

TAMPA - An aunt of John Evander Couey stepped forward Thursday to claim his body, relieving the Florida Department of Corrections of the financial burden of cremation and burial for one of West Central Florida's most reviled child killers.

Couey, 51, was sentenced to death for the 2005 slaying of 9-year-old Jessica "Jessie" Lunsford in Citrus County, but died of cancer Wednesday in a Jacksonville hospital.

Couey's body will be autopsied. Meanwhile, corrections officers packed up all of his worldly possessions. There wasn't much: a radio and headphones, toiletries, a watch and a set of colored pencils. There were also a half-dozen Christian books, including the Book of Common Prayer, along with a dictionary and photo album that contained mostly pictures of his family.

Keith Morelli

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