Man charged in Framingham woman's 2019 killing found not guilty by reason of insanity

Norman Miller, The MetroWest Daily News
·4 min read

WOBURN — Four years after she was stabbed to death, the justice system failed Framingham resident Jamia Ammons-Maddrey, according to her mother.

Ammons-Maddrey's killer, Christopher McKoy, was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Thursday after a two-day bench trial in Middlesex Superior Court.

A bench trial is one that is heard by a judge rather than a jury.

"The system failed my daughter," said Maria Maddrey.

Authorities said McKoy, then 25 and of Brockton, stabbed his girlfriend, Ammons-Maddrey, 27, to death inside her Interfaith Terrace apartment in Framingham on Oct. 20, 2019. Authorities said McKoy then left the apartment, cut off a court-ordered GPS monitoring bracelet and went to his mother's Boston apartment, where he was arrested the following night.

Jamia Ammons-Maddrey was fatally stabbed in October 2019 inside her Framingham apartment. Her boyfriend, Christopher McKoy, was found not guilty by reason of insanity after a bench trial last week.
Jamia Ammons-Maddrey was fatally stabbed in October 2019 inside her Framingham apartment. Her boyfriend, Christopher McKoy, was found not guilty by reason of insanity after a bench trial last week.

Bench trial: Suspect in 2019 fatal stabbing in Framingham will go before judge

McKoy and his lawyer, Edward Hayden, conceded that McKoy killed Ammons-Maddrey, but contested his criminal responsibility before Judge Christopher Barry-Smith. The trial occurred Monday and Tuesday, with Barry-Smith rendering his verdict on Thursday.

"His memory of what happened that night is not good," said Hayden, of McKoy. "How much he remembers of that night and what happened is not clear."

McKoy was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014, Hayden said. Court psychologists had testified that McKoy was experiencing auditory and visual hallucinations at the time of the killing.

McKoy will remain at Bridgewater State Hospital indefinitely

Hayden said McKoy will not be released in the near future. He was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital and will remain there until doctors determine he is not a danger to the public.

"I don't know when he might leave Bridgewater," said Hayden. "This is a pretty brutal killing. He's going to have to show he's not a danger and how long that takes, I don't know, but now he has a chance to get out someday. It's not a life sentence."

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Maria Maddrey said she believes McKoy "fooled the judicial system," adding she thinks he should have been found guilty of first-degree murder, which would have resulted in a mandatory life sentence.

However, she also said it's unlikely McKoy will ever be let free.

"We still win, because he's not going anywhere," Maddrey said. "He will be in Bridgewater for the rest of his life. He still has to live with the fact that he killed someone. Not only did he kill someone, but he killed someone who cared about him and wanted to help him. It's something he has to live with for the rest of his life."

'She loved living,' mother says of murdered daughter

Maddrey-Ammons was a caring woman who always tried to help others and cared greatly for her family and friends, her mother said.

"She was wonderful," Maddrey said. "She was beautiful. She was wonderfully caring. That's why when she found out about his issues, she wanted to help. She had a big heart. She loved her family. She loved living. That's what hurt so much — she was the happiest in her life in that last year than she had been for years. She was so happy."

Aaliyah Wing, Ammons-Maddrey's younger sister, called her older sibling her "role model and blueprint" for life.

"In losing her, I lost myself," Wing said. "Now, I realize I can live for her and her legacy of strength and resilience."

Hayden said McKoy was relieved when he heard the verdict.

"He got the best possible outcome," the attorney said. "He breathed a sigh of relief that he won't be spending the rest of his life in prison."

Christopher McKoy, pictured during his Framingham District Court arraignment in October 2019, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Jamia Ammons-Maddrey.
Christopher McKoy, pictured during his Framingham District Court arraignment in October 2019, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the stabbing death of his girlfriend, Jamia Ammons-Maddrey.

McKoy may be not guilty in the legal sense, but morally and spiritually he is, according to Maddrey.

"The ultimate judge is God, so we know whatever the verdict was, he's guilty in the eyes of the Lord and my eyes," Maddrey said of McKoy. " He will never get to enjoy the life my daughter was supposed to enjoy outside of the walls of Bridgewater. Hopefully, now we can move forward knowing he'll never be able to move forward with his life."

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on X @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Brockton man not guilty reason of insanity Framingham woman's death