Johnny Cash’s family is urging investigators to reopen his great-niece’s murder case to determine if someone else may have been involved after they uncovered hidden documents.
Courtney Cash, then 23, was found stabbed to death and stuffed in a dumpster at her Cookeville, Tennessee home on March 18, 2014.
Her family gathered on the ninth anniversary of her death Saturday at Cookeville Courthouse Square to remember Courtney months after her mother, Cindy Cash, obtained a hidden police report of her death.
“We’re asking them to look at their own records, their own reports, their own investigations,” Cindy said. WKRN.
Wayne Gary Masciarella, 26, was arrested for Courtney’s murder and pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder. He is serving a 15-year sentence.
Courtney Cash, then 23, was found stabbed to death and stuffed in a dumpster at her Cookeville, Tennessee home on March 18, 2014.
At the time of Courtney’s death, Masciarella stabbed her after getting into an altercation with her and her boyfriend William Austin Johnson (left), who also suffered stab wounds. The two shared a 20-month-old daughter.
It is unclear what is written in the police report, but in the past, Cindy has urged the police to further investigate Courtney’s murder.
At the time of Courtney’s death, Masciarella stabbed her after getting into an altercation with her and her boyfriend William Austin Johnson, who also suffered stab wounds, police said.
Johnson told prosecutors at the time that Masciarella attacked him and Courtney, injected them with something and then stabbed them because he believed he was poisoned. WKRN reported.
Courtney’s mother, Cindy Cash, said she recently obtained a hidden police report into his death.
She had fled the home with her daughter Cameryn, then 20 months old, after performing CPR on Courtney to no avail, she testified in 2014.
Since Courtney’s death, her family has always clung to the belief that someone else was involved.
Despite his assumptions, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway said last year that his allegations did not match the evidence in the case.
“The family has told me that they feel that Austin Johnson should have been charged as well,” Dunaway said last year, according to the news outlet.
‘The evidence simply does not support that position. This office can only charge and ethically prosecute individuals for criminal offenses when there is a good faith belief that the evidence will support a conviction.
“In this case, the available evidence indicated only Macarella as the murderer.”
The district attorney’s office was not immediately available for comment.
Wayne Gary Masciarella, 26, was arrested for Courtney’s murder and pleaded guilty in 2016 to second-degree murder. He is serving a 15-year sentence.
Since Courtney’s death, her family has always clung to the belief that someone else was involved. Pictured: Courtney and her daughter Cameryn
Courtney was the great-niece of American country music composer Johnny Cash.
Despite his assumptions, District Attorney Bryant Dunaway said last year that his allegations did not match the evidence in the case.
Courtney’s now 10-year-old daughter Cameryn is now in the care of Cindy Cash.
Cindy watches over Courtney’s now 10-year-old daughter Cameryn, who has many questions about her mother’s death.
“It’s heartbreaking because I can’t be his mother,” Cindy told the news outlet. It’s hard. It is so difficult.
Despite witnessing Courtney’s death at a young age, he doesn’t remember a thing.
“She calls my wife Gigi,” Ken Young, Courttey’s stepfather, previously said. WKRN. And she called me one night, this was years ago, and she said, “Dad, I need to talk to you in private.” And I was like, “Okay, what’s up?”
She said, “I want to know how my mom died.” And she said, “Gigi won’t tell me because she thinks I’m not sophisticated enough to know.”
Meanwhile, a heartbroken Cindy searches for more answers about her daughter’s death while raising Cameryn.