15-year-old Boyle girl will be tried as adult for murder of step mom

Published 7:56 pm Friday, October 21, 2016

Jenna Oakley, 15, will be tried as an adult for the murder of her step mother, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Richie Bottoms. 

Oakley was arraigned Thursday in the Boyle County Circuit Court on one count of murder and one count of theft by unlawful taking.

She is accused “causing the death of Rhonda Oakley,” her step mother, “or that another person did so by acting in complicity with the defendant to commit this crime” on Sept. 1, 2016, according to court records.

Jenna Oakley is currently lodged in a juvenile detention facility, where she will remain, Bottoms said.

Council has been appointed for the teen, he said.

Rhonda Oakley, 52, was found dead in the family’s home on Old Hustonville Road, just north of Junction City, by her step son. At the time, Jenna Oakley was missing, along with Rhonda Oakley’s car.

Jenna Oakley was found, along with the car and Kenneth Nigh, 20, in Tucumcari, New Mexico, on Sept. 3, in the parking lot of a Motel 6. Oakley was lodged in a juvenile detention facility before being relocated to Kentucky. 

Nigh, from Arlington, Indiana, was lodged in the Quay County Detention Center and charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, but was removed a few days later due to a self-inflicted wound. He was taken to the Northwest Texas Hospital. According to WLEX-18, Nigh later died from his injuries.

Follow Kendra Peek on Twitter, @knpeek.