In February 2009, Heather Strong (March 23, 1982 – February 15, 2009) was kidnapped and murdered in

Marion County, Florida Marion County is located in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 375,908. Its county seat is Ocala. Marion County comprises the Ocala, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area. it includes part ...

. Emilia Lily Carr, a rival for the affections of a man Strong had dated, came under suspicion. Carr denied any guilt and alleged her statements were coerced. Carr was nevertheless found guilty in December 2010 and sentenced to death by lethal injection in February 2011. Carr was one of five women on

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. On May 19, 2017, Emilia Carr was re-sentenced to life without parole. Joshua Fulgham (Heather Strong's husband, and Carr's co-accused) was similarly convicted of

first-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

and

kidnapping In criminal law, kidnapping is the unlawful confinement of a person against their will, often including transportation/asportation. The asportation and abduction element is typically but not necessarily conducted by means of force or fear: the p ...

in the death. At a separate trial, where he pled guilty, Joshua Fulgham received two

consecutive sentences In law, a sentence is the punishment for a crime ordered by a trial court after conviction in a criminal procedure, normally at the conclusion of a trial. A sentence may consist of imprisonment, a fine, or other sanctions. Sentences for multip ...

of life in prison for his involvement in Strong's murder.

Background

Emilia Lily Carr was born Emilia , on August 4, 1984. She was the second of three sisters. A psychologist estimated her IQ to be 125. At the age of 15, she reported abuse by her father to her school, but withdrew her statement to officials. In February 2004, Carr's father was convicted of attempting to solicit the murders of his family (Emilia, her mother, and one of her sisters) and was sentenced to four years in prison. Carr had been married twice and filed a restraining order against one of her ex-husbands for domestic violence. She was sentenced to two years of probation for her involvement in her ex-husband's

grand theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...

of exotic birds. Carr had three children at the time, one of them with ex-boyfriend Jamie Acome. At the time of the murder, she was eight months pregnant with a child presumed to be Joshua Fulgham's. In November 2008, Carr became engaged to Joshua Damien Fulgham, who instead married Heather Strong one month later. However, Carr maintained contact with them and babysat Strong's two children, according to Carr's family. In January 2009, Fulgham was arrested for threatening Strong with a shotgun, but was released after the charge of aggravated assault with a firearm was dropped. Investigators later discovered that Carr had threatened Strong with a knife to force her to withdraw her criminal complaint. Carr and Fulgham re-established their relationship while Strong began seeing someone else. Fulgham and Strong became involved in a legal battle over the custody of their two children.

Murder

In February 2009, Heather Strong, then a 26-year-old resident of

Citra, Florida Citra is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Florida, United States. The community is part of the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area. Citra is known as the home of the pineapple orange, (originally called the Hickory orange) a name coi ...

, disappeared while employed at an Iron Skillet restaurant at a Petro gas station next to

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

in Reddick. She was reported missing on February 15. Her remains were discovered on March 19, in a shallow grave by a storage trailer in Boardman, near

McIntosh, Florida McIntosh is a town in Marion County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the town population was 463. It is part of the Ocala Metropolitan Statistical Area. History McIntosh was platted in 1885 and named in honor of Col. John C. McI ...

. Carr was arrested on March 24, after investigators noted the frequency of her statements to authorities, ten in all without the presence of an attorney. Detectives also recorded undercover audio of Carr discussing details of the crime with Fulgham's sister. Carr, who at the time was seven months pregnant with Fulgham's child, tricked Strong into the storage trailer behind the home of Carr's mother Maria and placed a plastic bag over her head after unsuccessfully trying to break her neck. Strong eventually died of

asphyxia Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects primarily the tissues and organs. There are many circumstances that can i ...

tion while bound by duct tape to a computer chair. Strong's estranged husband Joshua Fulgham was arrested on suspicion of fraud for using her credit cards after she had disappeared. Later in March 2009, Carr gave birth to her fourth child while in custody at Marion County Jail; Her family gained custody of her older three children while her daughter by Fulgham has since been adopted. Carr provided a confession to investigators, but claimed that she had only done so in the hope of being reunited with her children.

Trials of Emilia Carr and Joshua Fulgham

Emilia Carr and Joshua Fulgham waived their right to a

speedy trial In criminal law, the right to a speedy trial is a human right under which it is asserted that a government prosecutor may not delay the trial of a criminal suspect arbitrarily and indefinitely. Otherwise, the power to impose such delays would eff ...

during their

arraignment Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal charging document in the presence of the defendant, to inform them of the charges against them. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea. Acceptable pleas vary among jurisd ...

for murder in April 2009. Prosecutor Rock Hooker immediately filed notice of his intent to pursue the death penalty because of the heinous nature of the crime. In November 2009, State Circuit Judge Willard Pope declined Emilia Carr's request for a

continuance In American procedural law, a continuance is the postponement of a hearing, trial, or other scheduled court proceeding at the request of either or both parties in the dispute, or by the judge ''sua sponte''. In response to delays in bringing cases ...

of the trial because of her concerns over the preparedness of defense attorney Candace Hawthorne. A jury found Carr guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping after two and a half hours of deliberations on December 7, 2010. During the penalty phase of the trial, Carr's family testified on her behalf that she had been traumatized since her early childhood by sexual abuse from her father and grandfather. However, the jury voted 7-to-5 on December 10 in favor of the death penalty for Carr. She was formally sentenced to death by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

on February 22, 2011. More than a year after Carr's conviction for the murder of Heather Strong, her co-defendant Joshua Fulgham went on trial for his alleged participation in the murder in April 2012. Carr, on

at the

Lowell Correctional Institution Lowell Correctional Institution is a women's prison in unincorporated Marion County, Florida, would not testify at the trial. The

prosecution A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal trial ...

detailed the gruesome aspects of the crime. Both the prosecution and Fulgham's defense attorneys agreed that the motives for Heather Strong's murder were jealousy and betrayal. At the conclusion of his trial, Fulgham was convicted of first-degree murder and kidnapping. Despite the

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that ...

of his co-defendant, Joshua's jury voted 8-to-4 to sentence him to life in prison without a chance of parole and the judge followed the jury's recommendation. Carr was placed in the annex at

Lowell Correctional Institution Lowell Correctional Institution is a women's prison in unincorporated Marion County, Florida,death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

in Florida, the other four being

Tiffany Cole Tiffany Ann Cole (born December 3, 1981) is an American convicted murderer who was found guilty of the kidnapping and first-degree murder of a Duval County, Florida husband and wife and sentenced to death. Also found guilty in the case were thr ...

, Margaret Allen, Ana Maria Cardona and Tina Brown. Carr also became the first woman to be sentenced to death in Marion County since the 1992 sentencing of

Aileen Wuornos Aileen Carol Wuornos (; born Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer. In 1989–1990, while engaging in street prostitution along highways in Florida, she shot dead and robbed seven of her male clients. Wuo ...

. On May 19, 2017, Emilia Carr was re-sentenced to life without parole.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Heather, Murder Of 2009 murders in the United States Capital murder cases February 2009 crimes in the United States Kidnappings in the United States Deaths by person in Florida 2009 in Florida Female murder victims Violence against women in Florida

Background

Murder

Trials of Emilia Carr and Joshua Fulgham

See also

References