The Mississippi Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of Grace Ann McCarty’s 2016 conviction for manslaughter in Attala County Circuit Court, which had last fall been upheld by the state Court of Appeals.
McCarty was indicted for depraved-heart murder after she backed a car over her husband, Joel, in the driveway of their Hillcrest Drive home in Kosciusko on Nov. 2, 2014. She was convicted of manslaughter in the case and was sentenced to 20 years in prison with five years suspended and five years of post-release supervision.
McCarty’s earlier appeal was based on arguments that there was insufficient evidence and that the jury’s judgment went against the weight of the evidence in the case. She also insisted that her prior motion for a mistrial should have been granted because she alleged that Joel’s cousin had coached a witness during the trial.
According to court documents Grace, Joel, Grace’s 10-year-old daughter and Joel’s adult son, Jay, were reportedly at the family home in Kosciusko.
Grace and Joel were allegedly arguing in front of the house and Grace got into the car to leave. In an effort to keep her from leaving, Joel reportedly sat in the driveway behind the vehicle.
A video from the time and scene of the incident shows Joel sitting with his legs crossed a few feet behind the running vehicle. He reportedly tried to get out of the way of the moving vehicle, but he was unable and was hit by the rear, then front right-hand tires.
At trial, Grace testified that she and her daughter had left the house and gotten into the vehicle and were not aware that Joel had exited the home and was behind the car when she began to back up.
Jay testified that he had exited the house along with his father, but as he walked back toward the house, he heard the car back up and run over Joel.
Grace called 911 and in a recording of that call, she reportedly told authorities she had run over her husband “by accident.”
Joel later died of his injuries.
