Kriti Mehrotra
The city of Jacksonville, Florida, was left shaken to the core when 17-year-old high schooler Makia Ann Coney was found murdered 3 miles from the institution on February 10, 2010. Investigation Discovery’s ‘Signs Of A Psychopath: Kids Will Be Kids’ carefully chronicles this matter, shining a clear light upon the fact that she never seemed to have any enemies. She thus could have been at the wrong place at the wrong time, yet as time passed, evidence was recovered, and confessions came forth; it was ascertained she had indeed been targeted.
Makia Coney Was Shot Twice at Close Range in a Wooded Area
Born on February 7, 1993, to Janice Coney-Kensel and Willie Kensel as one of their two adorable daughters, Makia Coney grew up surrounded by care, love, and support from every corner. She and her sister Beatrice actually enjoyed being Florida natives as it enabled them to develop a global perspective from an early age, thanks to residents hailing from all walks of life. However, the former was also a typical teenager by 2010, with a deep interest in boys, drama, and friends, all the while also having ambitions for her own future down the line.
The fact that Makia was unwaveringly kindhearted, had an infectious smile, and carried herself with quiet grace also made her quite popular not only at school but also among the extended family. Therefore, when news of the bright 17-year-old’s sudden disappearance broke in the afternoon of February 10, 2010, the entire community banded together in search of her. She had no troubles at home or in school, she was the embodiment of someone who loved life, and she was making plans for the days ahead, per her family, so she definitely wasn’t a runaway.
According to records, Makia was last seen leaving the campus of her private University Christian School around the time classes let out at 3:15 pm on the fateful day, yet she never returned home. It was sadly only her remains that were found 3 hours later at 6:19 pm in a wooded area less than 3 miles away from the educational institution and near a police station. Since there were no signs of struggle, the 17-year-old likely never saw the attack coming — she was shot once in the back and once in the front at close range, with the second causing her death.
The Investigation Into Makia Coney’s Case Initially Went in Circles
Although there was no significant physical evidence at the scene and there were no witnesses to the crime to follow up on, authorities were able to make a few distinctions rather quickly. From the fact that neither she nor the scene bore any sign of a sexual assault or a struggle in any capacity, they believed Makia knew her attacker/s and hadn’t anticipated any threat/violence. Yet, in the end, it wasn’t the ensuing door-to-door canvasing or interviews with her loved ones, but the fresh tire track pattern identified near her remains that gave officials a big break.
While Makia’s friends and family maintained she had no known enemies, it was pointed out that she had recently been in an on-again-off-again relationship with Charles Roy Southern. They truly thought no one in her life could have hurt her so brutally, but when investigators checked the tires of all the vehicles in the school’s parking lot against the track they had, they found a match. The truck in question belonged to none other than 17-year-old Charles, so he was taken into the station for an interrogation almost immediately in the early evening of February 11. During his interview, he said he had no idea what had happened to Makia before asserting his innocence by claiming he was with 16-year-old Connor Julian Pridgen at the gym at the time of the crime.
However, Charles then contradicted himself and implicated the latter, alleging he had heard from people at school that Connor was the last person to see Makia alive, as he had walked her to Taco Bell. What disturbed the detectives most about their entire conversation, though, was the way the teenager seemed unbothered about the fact that his on-again-off-again had been killed. Connor was brought in for questioning on February 12 at 3:40 pm, by which point his aforementioned friend had already called the police again to directly accuse him of murder, which was recorded. This recording was played for the 16-year-old, following which he vehemently alleged he was just an onlooker while Charles pulled the trigger, making it clear they were both involved.
Makia Coney Was Killed at the Hands of 2 Schoolmates
While Connor was being interrogated, Charles came in for his second interview, and it became evident early on that the two were playing the blame game to reduce their culpability in Makia’s murder. The former initially asserted he had no idea his friend driving him and his ex-girlfriend into the wooded area to smoke a cigar was a setup to kill her, whereas the latter argued he wasn’t responsible. Therefore, officials decided the best course of action was to bring the duo face-to-face so they could reveal the truth, but alas, they continued to point fingers at one another at every turn. It briefly seemed like things would go nowhere, yet the teenagers then slipped up when Connor stated something along the lines of Charles shooting first, and the latter didn’t contradict it.
As time passed and interrogations continued, the two teenagers tried their best to avoid the consequences of their actions by making distracting claims of their jealousy, robbery plans, and more. However, in the chaos, through their own statements, authorities were able to figure out that while Charles shot Makia first in the back, Connor shot her in the front after she fell, or as she was falling. The duo allegedly ultimately confessed they had plans to commit armed robberies at a few local stores/houses in the near future, per the show, so they wanted to get a feel of violence beforehand. They indicated they just wanted to see how it would feel to take a life, and they had picked Makia as their target since she appeared the most defenseless, resulting in their arrest for murder.
After Pleading Guilty, Charles Southern and Connor Pridgen Are Incarcerated in State Prison
In the end, although Charles and Connor faced one count each of first-degree murder in court, they ended up pleading guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree murder in July 2010. They were both subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which the former in particular appealed several times over the years. Then, when the US Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that life sentences without parole are unconstitutional for convicts who were juveniles at the time of their crime, they made further appeals. Ultimately, they were resentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole/review after 25 years. Therefore, today, at the age of 33, Charles is detained at the Everglades Correctional Institution in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida. On the other hand, 32-year-old Connor is detained at the Wakulla Correctional Institution in Crawfordville, Florida.
Read More: Mindi Kassotis Murder: Where is Nick Kassotis Now?
