Woman, 20, Was Killed with Wrench by Her Child's Dad Before Dismembered Body Found in 2 Dumpsters
A 27-year-old Kentucky man admitted to killing the 20-year-old mother of his child, dismembering her body and disposing of her remains in two different dumpsters, PEOPLE confirms.
Under a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Patrick Ryan Jones of Lexington pleaded guilty but mentally ill Wednesday to murdering his ex-girlfriend, Haley Bourgeois, a clerk in the Fayette Circuit Court in Lexington tells PEOPLE.
He also pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of abuse of a corpse.
His plea will allow him to participate in mental health programs in prison, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
Under the plea agreement, a charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed.
He faces 30 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, according to court records.
A staff psychiatrist at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in La Grange where Jones had been held conducted a mental health evaluation and found that Jones suffered from a mental illness but was also competent to stand trial, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports.
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The grisly crime came to light on July 21, 2016, when police responded to early morning calls about suspicious activity near an apartment building in Lexington, ABC affiliate WKYT reported at the time.
Officers who arrived on the scene found the remains of Bourgeois’ mutilated body in two dumpsters.
Her body was so badly disfigured that the coroner said he had to use a tattoo to identify her, WKYT reports.
After being questioned by police, Jones was charged that afternoon with her murder, WKYT reports.
Police said a witness told them that Jones had admitted to killing Bourgeois, dismembering her body and disposing of her remains, court records show, WKYT reports.
Jones killed Bourgeois with a wrench during an argument, court records show, WKYT says.
Friends of the young couple expressed their shock at her gruesome death.
“They had a little boy together,” Jones’s friend Peggy Hinkle told WKYT. “What would make a man kill his baby Momma? They was engaged. They was engaged to get married at one point. Not one bit did I ever feel that he could harm a woman, especially Haley.”
