Stabbing victims Tara Lynn Fifer, 22, Lexy Vandiver, 29, and Lexy's son Mason, 7.
Shawn Kavanagh
Suspect in triple murder granted change of venue
The trial of a man facing the death penalty in a triple homicide case will be held in Montgomery County.
A change of venue was granted to transfer the case from Warren County.
Shawn Kavanagh, 23, of Bellflower, is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Dec. 3. Kavanagh has been charged with nine felony counts, including three counts of first-degree murder, four counts of armed criminal action, first-degree domestic assault and first-degree burglary stemming from the Feb. 14 attack.
He is accused of murdering Tara Lynn Fifer, 22, of Montgomery City, and Lexy Vandiver, 29, and her son, Mason Vandiver, 8, both of Jonesburg.
He also is charged with critically injuring his estranged wife Jescie Powell Kavanagh, 27.
In July, Warren County Prosecutor Jenny Bartlett announced she was seeking the death penalty in the murder case.
Kavanagh entered a not guilty plea at an arraignment hearing held in August.
Police said Shawn Kavanagh went to a home in the 26000 block of Humber Road, located off Highway Y south of Jonesburg, at approximately 7:45 p.m. on Feb. 14. Jescie Kavanagh was staying there with Lexy Vandiver, a co-worker at New Florence Care Center, and her two children.
After being asked to leave, Shawn Kavanagh went to his car and returned with a knife and began attacking the women and the boy, police allege.
Fifer, another co-worker, had stopped by the home to check on Kavanagh shortly before the attack occurred, family members said.
Shawn Kavanagh placed a 911 call at 7:51 p.m. and told the dispatcher that he had just stabbed his wife and killed several people. When police arrived, they found him covered in blood, they said. Kavanagh told police that he had just killed the people inside the home.
Lexy Vandiver and Fifer were found stabbed to death. Jescie Kavanagh was airlifted to a Columbia hospital. Mason Vandiver, who suffered multiple stab wounds, died four days later at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center in St. Louis.
Vandiver’s 18-month-old daughter was found unharmed inside the home.
Shawn Kavanagh was charged with misdemeanor domestic assault in January. The couple was married for 10 months before separating three weeks prior to the Valentine’s Day attack, family members said.
http://www.warrencountyrecord.com/lo...9ec8cc99d.html
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