Investigators say voices on the line discussed the killing before deputies found 70-year-old Sherri Mitko shot inside her home.
SOMERSET, Ky. — A 911 call placed shortly after midnight became the first public clue in a Kentucky homicide investigation when dispatchers heard voices on an open line discussing the death of a woman who had not yet been found by deputies. Weeks later, an adult and four teenage boys had been charged in connection with the killing.
The call came from the Lower Line Creek Road home of Sherri Mitko at about 12:07 a.m. Aug. 12, according to a criminal complaint reported by WKYT. Dispatchers heard two male voices while the connection remained open. One speaker said they should not have killed her and should get out of the house. Reports on the complaint say the conversation also included a reference to Mitko’s safe. Deputies went to the residence for a welfare check and found the 70-year-old dead inside. Authorities said a preliminary examination showed she had been shot multiple times.
Investigators would spend the following days trying to put identities and roles around what the emergency line had captured. Deputies reported finding two cellphones inside the house. The sheriff’s office said detectives developed persons of interest and followed leads before making their first arrests four days after Mitko’s death. Authorities have not publicly identified who they believe placed the 911 call or which defendants, if any, were the voices heard by dispatchers. That leaves the recording important to the investigation without publicly tying every statement on it to a named person.
The first major account of what allegedly happened inside came from a 15-year-old boy questioned Aug. 16. A criminal complaint says the teenager admitted entering Mitko’s home with the intent to rob her and said he went inside with a 17-year-old. According to the younger teen’s statement to investigators, the 17-year-old shot Mitko. He also said they left with about $240 and alcohol. Those claims are allegations from an investigative interview rather than findings by a judge or jury, and authorities have released only limited information about the juvenile proceedings.
That same account brought McCoy Chaney, 20, into the alleged sequence as the person who transported the two teenagers to Mitko’s home. Chaney was arrested Aug. 17. He initially faced murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary charges and was held on a $1.5 million bond. He has insisted that he did not know what the teenagers intended to do. In a jail interview, Chaney said he believed he was giving them a ride to a friend’s house so they could retrieve something left during an earlier visit.
Chaney said he remained unaware of a violent plan until he heard gunshots. He also claimed the teenagers ordered him to drive and had threatened to harm him if he left or talked. Those assertions form part of Chaney’s defense narrative, while investigators have continued examining what he knew before reaching the house and what actions he took before and after the shooting. His case changed on Sept. 2, when a court amended his charges to complicity to murder, complicity to robbery and complicity to burglary during a preliminary hearing.
The distinction is significant because the current accusations do not identify Chaney as Mitko’s shooter. Instead, they allege legal responsibility through complicity in the crimes. Chaney previously entered a not guilty plea. The amendment likewise does not establish that his account is correct; it reflects the form of the allegations moving forward. Public reports have not described a trial or final disposition in his case, and the state still bears the burden of proving the charges.
Meanwhile, the number of juveniles charged continued to increase. Two teenage boys were charged with murder Aug. 16. A third teen was charged Aug. 19 with complicity to commit murder. The sheriff’s office announced Aug. 28 that a fourth male juvenile had been charged with murder, bringing the overall number of people charged to five. Officials said that teenager had already been detained on an unrelated matter. The juveniles’ names have not been made public, and investigators have not released a complete account of each boy’s alleged role.
The widening case also raised questions about why Mitko’s home was selected. Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones said investigators considered the residence targeted and said at least some of the people involved had been there before. He characterized the killing as an isolated event and said authorities did not believe there was a continuing threat to the community. The sheriff’s office has not publicly disclosed the motive for choosing the house or identified the earlier connection that allegedly placed one or more suspects there before Aug. 12.
Chaney has said his renewed association with some of the teenagers began after they encountered him at a Walmart roughly a year before the homicide. He portrayed the meeting as incidental and said he had previously tried to distance himself from trouble. That detail describes how Chaney says he reconnected with them, not why investigators believe Mitko’s home was targeted. Authorities have not alleged that the store encounter was part of a criminal plan, and the public record does not establish when any alleged plan to rob Mitko was formed.
The unanswered timing matters because the available accounts differ sharply in what they suggest about the trip. The juvenile statement described an intention to rob the home, while Chaney said he believed the destination was simply a friend’s residence where property would be collected. Jones’ description of the property as targeted adds another piece without providing a complete explanation. What evidence investigators have about communications before the drive, prior visits to the residence or knowledge of a safe has not been fully released.
Mitko’s identity was initially central because she was the victim in the criminal investigation, but people who knew her later provided a broader picture of her life. She had worked as a teacher in Columbus, Ohio, before moving to Kentucky and later served as a substitute teacher for Laurel County Public Schools. Her obituary described her enjoyment of sewing and baking for others, including making wedding dresses and other gifts. School officials and friends remembered her warmth and willingness to help.
Her son, Chris Mitko, said people often remembered his mother not for one large public achievement but for many smaller acts of kindness. He told WKYT that he had an idea about how one person in the case might have been connected to her but preferred to allow the investigation and legal process to unfold. His statement underscored one of the case’s remaining mysteries: investigators say the home was deliberately selected, yet they have not publicly explained the relationship that led to it.
As of Sept. 28, Chaney faced the amended complicity charges and four juveniles remained publicly linked to the case through murder or complicity allegations. No conviction has been reported. The 911 call that first drew deputies to the property remains one of the clearest publicly known pieces of the timeline, but the identities behind the voices, the origin of the alleged robbery plan and the precise role of each defendant remain issues for investigators and the courts.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.