A Witchita woman has been jailed for life after beheading her ex-partner’s mother with steak knives and leaving her head in the kitchen sink. Rachael Hilyard, 38, was convicted of killing 63-year-old Micki Davis after Davis came to Hilyard’s house with her 9-year-old grandson on April 9, 2017 to collect her son’s belongings at Hilyard’s urging. Sadly, she never left the property.
- Thankfully, the 9-year-old child wasn’t harmed. However, he will no doubt be scarred by what he witnessed. The child ran from the property to get help as Hilyard was killing his grandmother, with Davis’ body later found in the garage while her head was in the kitchen sink.
- The attack happened “without provocation.” As ABC News reports, prosecutors were seeking a first-degree murder charge against Hilyard, who admitted to killing Davis but insisted it wasn’t premeditated. However, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said during closing arguments at Hilyard’s trial that after attacking Davis without provocation, she then reached for the knives “to finish what she started.” He added, “For her own reasons, Rachael Hilyard had had it with Micki.”
- Davis was still alive when she was beheaded. While Hilyard’s attorney, Quentin Pittman, claimed that his client believed Davis to be dead when she began to saw off her head with the knives, testimony from medical professionals during the trial indicated that Davis, while unconscious, was likely still alive.
- Hilyard said she beheaded Davis “to free her soul from her body.” In a statement to the court, Hilyard expressed remorse, insisting that “every day and night [she is] sorry” and claiming that “even death would be too good for [her] now.” She again insisted that she believed Davis was dead when she cut off her head and claimed that she had to behead her so that Davis’ soul could be freed from her body.
- She was declared competent for trial. While Hilyard was initially taken to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation, she was later declared competent to stand trial. After being found guilty of first-degree murder in February, she was later sentenced to life in prison with an opportunity for parole after serving 50 years behind bars. Something tells me she will never be free again.
