Woman, 33, is arrested over the murder of a missing 25-year-old mother who was shot, struck in the head with a hatchet and burned after the victim’s bones were discovered off a county road last week
- Danelle Powell, 33, of Kentucky, charged with murder in killing of 25-year-old LeeAnna Brumley
- Brumley, a mother-of-one, was last seen alive on May 22; she was reported missing in June by her mother
- Last week, officials recovered human bones believed to be those of Brumley
- Investigators say Brumley was shot, hit with a hatchet and burned
A Kentucky woman has been charged with murdering a young mother missing since spring whose skeletal remains may have been found last week.
Danelle Powell, 33, of Somerset, was arrested last Thursday on a murder count in the brutal death of 25-year-old LeeAnna Brumley, who was shot, struck with a hatchet and then set on fire, according to investigators.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office announced that investigators believe human bones found off a county road last week match Brumley, who was last seen alive in May.
Danelle Powell, 33 (left), of Kentucky, has been charged with murder in the May killing of 25-year-old LeeAnna Brumley (right)
The remains have been sent to a state medical examiner’s office for identification.
The sheriff’s statement hints at additional arrests, saying ‘all those responsible for the death of LeeAnna’ will be identified and held responsible.
The Commonwealth Journal reports lead investigator Lt. Bobby Jones said at a press conference that Brumley and Powell had been staying at the same residence in Science Hill belonging to Gerald Hendricks.
Hendricks, 53, has been arrested on unrelated charges of kidnapping and rape.
His relative Corky Hendricks, 39, is also being held in jail on charges not connected to Brumley’s killing, including cultivating marijuana and possessing a handgun as a convicted felon, but he has been named a person of interest in the woman’s death.
Brumely, who has a seven-year-old son, was last seen alive on May 22. Police say she was shot, struck with a hatchet and burned
Jones revealed to the Louisville Courier-Journal that he expects both men to face additional charges related to Brumley’s death once the case goes to a grand jury.
According to the investigator, Brumley was led away from Hendricks’ home and into a rural area of the county where detectives think she was shot, hit in the head with a hatchet and burned.
Jones said investigators believe she was killed at one location on May 22 before her body was taken to a field off Charter Oaks Road where the remains were found. Brumley leaves behind her seven-year-old son.
Authorities have not released a motive in the woman’s savage slaying.
Brumley’s family said the woman had struggled with addiction. Her mother reported her missing on June 4.
Brumley’s remains were found in a field in the area of Charter Oaks Road in northern Pulaski County (pictured)
Corky Hendricks, 39, has been named a person of interest in Brumley’s killing. So far, he has been arrested on unrelated charges
Brumley’s younger sister, Faith Duggins, said she had been holding onto hope that LeeAnna eventually would come home.
‘We all expected LeeAnna to come out of nowhere, but she didn’t,’ she told WKYT.
Relatives say they do not know about the nature of LeeAnna’s relationship with Powell, but they believe the two women met on social media.
Powell was arraigned on Friday and pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. A judge ordered her held without bond pending a preliminary hearing set for Wednesday.
Online records indicate the 33-year-old has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests on drug possession and probation violation charges.