Mother and boyfriend charged in death of 4-year-old ordered held on $1M bond

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The mother and boyfriend of a four-year-old girl whose body was found more than a year after she was last seen have been arraigned on charges involving her death.

Catherine Abigail McKinney, 21, and Dakota Hugh Hill, 26, both of Shepherdsville, are charged with murder and abuse of a corpse.

The couple is charged in the death of four-year-old Serenity Ann McKinney whose body was found Feb. 18 in a wooded area in West Point near the Jefferson-Bullitt County line.

Serenity had last been seen Dec. 24, 2020. She was reported missing on Jan. 31 by her grandparents.

Pleas of not guilty were entered by the court for both McKinney and Hill during their arraignments in Bullitt District Court. Judge Jennifer Porter said Hill is a danger to the community and kept his bond at $1 million cash.

Porter also denied a request from McKinney, who says she’s seven months pregnant, for a bond reduction to a $25,000 surety bond and release from of jail. McKinney’s bond was also kept at $1 million cash.

McKinney and Hill will be back in Bullitt District Court on March 10, but they are scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in Shelby District Court for a preliminary hearing on custodial interference charges.

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