Sherri Mitko, 70, was remembered for decades of teaching and quiet generosity as investigators pieced together an alleged home invasion.
SOMERSET, Ky. — Before her name appeared in homicide reports and court records, Sherri Mitko was known to relatives, friends and students as a teacher who spent much of her life helping others. Now five people, including four teenagers, face charges stemming from the night the 70-year-old was found shot to death in her Pulaski County home.
Mitko had taught in Ohio before moving to Kentucky and later worked as a substitute teacher in Laurel County, according to her obituary and local school officials. Her son and friends described a woman whose impact came through ordinary, repeated acts of service rather than public recognition. She sewed items for people she cared about, baked for friends and relatives and offered encouragement when others needed it. Those memories have become one part of a case otherwise dominated by an open 911 call, juvenile arrests and conflicting accounts of how several young people arrived at her rural residence.
Deputies were sent to Mitko’s home on Lower Line Creek Road early Aug. 12 after a 911 call came from the residence. A criminal complaint says the line remained open long enough for dispatchers to hear two male voices. One speaker could be heard saying that they should not have killed her and should leave. When deputies entered the home during the resulting welfare check, they found Mitko dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Investigators also recovered two cellphones from inside the residence, according to records reported by WKYT.
Within days, the investigation moved from identifying possible suspects to filing charges. Two teenage boys were charged with murder on Aug. 16. The next day, detectives arrested 20-year-old McCoy Chaney of Somerset on charges that initially included murder, first-degree robbery and first-degree burglary. A third juvenile was charged Aug. 19 with complicity to commit murder. Then, on Aug. 28, authorities announced a murder charge against a fourth teenage boy. The sheriff’s office said that teenager had already been held on an unrelated matter while detectives worked the homicide case.
One of the juvenile interviews supplied investigators with a detailed allegation about what happened inside the home. According to a criminal complaint, a 15-year-old told deputies that he and a 17-year-old went inside with the intention of committing a robbery. The younger teenager said the older boy shot Mitko and that about $240 and alcohol were taken. Authorities have not publicly released the teenagers’ identities because they are juveniles, and the account in the complaint remains an allegation that must be tested through the court process.
The complaint also placed Chaney in the sequence of events as the person who drove two teenagers to Mitko’s home. Chaney, however, has denied knowing that anyone planned a robbery or shooting. He told WKYT from jail that he thought he was taking the teenagers to a friend’s home so they could pick up property they had previously left there. He said he became aware that something was wrong only when he heard gunshots. His version has not been accepted as a final account by investigators or adjudicated in court.
Chaney said his association with the teenagers had resumed after encountering them at a Walmart about a year earlier. He described the contact as a chance meeting after a period in which he had tried to stay away from trouble. He also said that after the shooting he was afraid to leave or report what had happened because he had been threatened. Investigators have not publicly said that the Walmart encounter had any direct connection to the planning of the alleged robbery. The significance of Chaney’s relationship with the teenagers instead centers on what he knew, what he allegedly did and why he drove them to the property.
That issue became even more important after Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones said detectives believed Mitko’s home had been targeted. Jones said at least some of those under investigation had previously been at the residence. Authorities have not publicly explained who had been there, how the person or people knew Mitko, or why they allegedly selected her home. The sheriff said the circumstances appeared isolated and told residents there was no continuing public-safety threat from the homicide.
Mitko’s son, Chris Mitko, said he had an idea about the nature of at least one connection to his mother but wanted the legal process to run its course before discussing it publicly. His caution reflects one of the central gaps that remains in the public record. Investigators have described the house as targeted, while court documents describe an alleged robbery, yet no official account has fully explained why the group went there or what information they had about Mitko or her property before arriving.
The case against Chaney also changed after his arrest. He entered a not guilty plea during an August court appearance. At a Sept. 2 preliminary hearing, his original charges were amended so that he now faces complicity to murder, complicity to robbery and complicity to burglary rather than the direct versions of those offenses. The amendment does not amount to a finding of guilt or innocence. It changes the legal theory under which prosecutors accuse him of participating in the crimes while the case proceeds.
The four juveniles are accused under separate circumstances that have not been fully disclosed publicly. Two were initially charged with murder, one was later charged with complicity to commit murder, and the fourth teen announced Aug. 28 was charged with murder. Because juvenile proceedings generally provide less public information than adult criminal cases, authorities have released few details explaining how prosecutors distinguish the alleged conduct of one teenager from another. Public reports also have not established whether any of the juvenile charges have since been amended.
The open 911 line may become one of the most closely examined pieces of evidence because it appears to capture conversation from the period surrounding the killing. Reports of the criminal complaint say the speakers discussed Mitko’s death and also referred to a safe. Investigators have not publicly identified which defendants, if any, they believe were the voices heard by dispatchers. The existence of the call therefore provides a significant investigative lead but does not, by itself, establish the individual responsibility of each of the five people charged.
For Mitko’s family and community, the criminal case continues alongside a different effort: keeping attention on the life she led before her death. Friends said her kindness could be measured in many small gestures, while Laurel County Public Schools remembered her as a substitute teacher whose warmth reached students and staff. Her obituary described a woman who made wedding dresses, baked goods and other things for people around her and regularly offered supportive advice.
Chaney remained subject to the amended complicity charges after the Sept. 2 hearing, and authorities have continued to describe the homicide investigation as active. No conviction has been reported against him or the four teenagers. The courts must still determine what each defendant knew and did, while investigators have not publicly resolved the most basic question behind their description of the killing as targeted: why Mitko and her home became the focus of the alleged crime.
Author note: Last updated September 28, 2026.