Oakley sentenced as juvenile for manslaughter, theft

Published 7:46 pm Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Jenna Oakley, 18, who recently plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter of her step-mother, has been sentenced as a juvenile. She is scheduled to appear in court later this month to be sentenced as an adult.

Boyle Circuit Court Judge Darren Peckler ordered Oakley sentenced to 10 years in prison for manslaughter and five years for theft by unlawful taking over $10,000 on Feb. 25, just two days after Oakley appeared in court and apologized for not trying to help save her step-mother on the day she was killed in 2016.

The sentences are to run consecutively, for a total of 15 years. Oakley will appear in court again on March 27 to be sentenced again as an adult, according to Peckler’s order.

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In February, Oakley’s attorneys filed a motion for Oakley to receive treatment in the Department of Juvenile Justice until she reached the age of 18 and five months. Oakley turned 18 on March 2.

Oakley was originally charged with murder and theft by unlawful taking, stemming from a September 2016 incident when her stepmother, Rhonda Oakley, was found dead in the basement of the family home. Oakley, who was 15 at the time, and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Kenneth Nigh, were taken into custody three days later in New Mexico, where they were found with Rhonda Oakley’s vehicle. After their arrests, Nigh later died in a hospital after attempting to hang himself in his jail cell.