Inset left: Thomas Coy (Lawrence County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Jasmine Taylor (Obituary). Background: The rural road where Coy shot and killed Taylor in Lawrence County, Mo. (Google Maps).
A Missouri man is facing substantial prison time after admitting to shooting and killing an Amazon delivery driver last winter.
This week, Thomas Coy, 65, pleaded guilty to one count each of second-degree murder and armed criminal action over the death of 23-year-old Jasmine Taylor in February 2025.
The violence took place on Lawrence County Road 2152, a part of Lawrence County located some 40 miles due west of Springfield.
On Feb. 5, 2025, an Amazon truck was seen crashing into a fence around 4 p.m., according to a probable cause statement issued by the Lawrence County Sheriff's Office and obtained by Springfield-based CBS affiliate KOLR and Osage Beach-based Fox affiliate KRBK, which collectively broadcast as "Ozarks First."
Taylor was behind the wheel of the crashed vehicle. In video provided by Amazon to law enforcement, the driver is seen slumped over in the driver's seat as the truck travels up to a driveway.
When questioned by investigators, the defendant confessed and added several details about the fatal violence.
"We have determined that, in fact, Mr. Coy saw the Amazon driver going down the road," Lawrence County Sheriff Chris Berry said. "He then retreated back to his home, got his weapon, came back up and waited for the Amazon driver to come back by. And then that's when he shot them."
After that, Coy removed Taylor from the vehicle, dragged her along the road, and left the still-breathing woman in a ditch.
The victim had been shot in the head with a pellet rifle, though at first authorities did not realize she had been shot, according to a report by Joplin-based radio station KZRG. She was taken to Mercy Hospital Joplin where doctors, hours later, told law enforcement about the projectile in the woman's head.
Taylor died on Feb. 9, 2025.
Coy was charged the day after that. He was initially arrested for assault, which was then upgraded to first-degree murder.
"It's just really sad because there is no sense to what occurred whatsoever," the sheriff said at the time. "It's very emotional because of the senselessness of what occurred. It just makes no sense why someone could be so angry to do something like this."
Authorities, however, speculated about a likely motive — though they kept mum about the specific reason for the violence.
"We have a motive, but we're not going to talk about it just yet," Berry told Ozarks First.
Neighbors who spoke with KZRG said Coy had often complained about the speed of delivery vehicles on the county road.
"It's very scary, certainly," the sheriff added. "And it's very, very different. They did not know each other at all. He saw the person going down the road, retreats to his place of residence, retrieved the pellet rifle and then waited for them to come back."
Coy is slated to be sentenced on Nov. 2.
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