When Lace Shawntelle Evans learned of her sister Courtney Coco’s tragic passing, she was crushed and saddened. Courtney Coco, 19, was brutally murdered, and her deplorable body wasn’t found for several days.
On October 4th, 2004, Coco’s remains was found in a vacant Winnie, Texas building. The body had undergone significant decomposition and was practically unrecognisable.
The bond between Courtney and Lace was unlike that of a typical sibling relationship. No one could have predicted how the two sisters were linked to one another.
David Anthony Burns, who was engaged to Lace, was also secretly dating the dead teenager. David intentionally double-crossed Courtney and Lace, but neither of them was aware of it.
Burns’ relationship with the two sisters was also more than just romantic. Authorities learned that he was the one who kidnapped and then killed Courtney sixteen years after the terrible death.
After witnesses reported that David had confessed to killing Courtney while the case was being looked into, the authorities detained David Anthony Burns.
David’s admission of guilt was allegedly overlooked by the police during the opening phases of the investigation.
A murderer was permitted to wander the streets unchecked for sixteen years due to a police officer’s carelessness.
David Anthony Burns was detained and charged in connection with the murder of Courtney Coco in April 2021.
He was found guilty in October 2022 and given a life sentence without the chance of parole. Right, better late than never?
Courtney Coco NBC Dateline
About 19 years after Coco’s devastating demise, the world will get the opportunity to closely examine her horrific demise.
The famed NBC programme “Dateline” will focus solely on Courtney Coco’s kidnapping, demise, discovery of her decomposing body, and capture of her offender.
Who Killed Courtney Coco, a two-hour long episode, aired on NBC on Friday, April 14.
The programme will centre on David Anthony Burns’ conviction, which occurred 16 years after he committed the most heinous crime of his life.
The programme will act as a reminder of how someone’s criminal past eventually catches up with them.
With David’s arrest, Courtney Coco’s sister and her family at last received the justice they had been yearning for.
There will only be one episode of the special feature. There is no information floating online about the Courtney Coco case being a television series.
The reception to the episode will be crucial in determining whether or not the show’s creators decide to make Coco’s case a series.
Who killed Courtney Coco?
Courtney Coco, a 19-year-old Northwestern State University student, was killed by David Anthony Burns, who was also Courtney’s covert lover at the time.
Her cause of death could not be determined during the initial investigation. Authorities learned her attacker had suffocated her to death with a pillow several years after she was killed.
David was accused of second-degree murder and was not eligible for probation, release, or sentence reduction.
He repeatedly insisted that he was innocent and that he did not do what was being charged against him.
David even went so far as to declare that the rest of Courtney Coco’s family, including her sister, would never be at peace since they were framing him and ruining his life.
The convicted murderer insisted numerous times that he had nothing to hide and was not hiding anything.
Many who spoke at the hearing remembered Coco’s funeral’s timing. At the deceased’s funeral, it was mentioned how David assisted the victim’s grandfather when he suffered a stroke.
He served as a pallbearer during Coco’s funeral as well. Even in their wildest fantasies, Courtney Coco’s sister and family couldn’t have guessed that he was responsible for the death of their darling.
Courtney Coco parents’ reaction to David’s indictment
The mother of Coco and Lace, Stephanie Belgard, formerly had a deep love for David, but she was very critical of him in court.
He was the target of Stephanie’s intense hatred and anger, and she expressed her open desire for him to burn in hell.
She continued by saying that she never wanted to see his face again and that there was no way for him to undo the error he had done.
Stephanie was also having a hard time controlling her emotions. She read aloud a poem that Coco composed about her life goals while pointing to a picture of her departed daughter.
Coco had a personal goal of having three children—two daughters and one male. She wanted to serve others professionally, thus she wanted to be a teacher or a paediatrician.
“You told her no. Stephanie looked at David with eyes full of fury, despair, and tears, “You denied her the chance.
Stephanie Belgard has taken up a leadership role for families of violent criminals since the death of her daughter.
She is employed by the federal organisation Parents of Murdered Children. The organisation does everything it can to support and assist the families of the victims.
She helps other families while their loved ones’ cases go through emotionally taxing trials, both individually and collectively.
Stephanie talked about how Coco was significant to each member of her family and what David stole from them all by killing her.
Because David hid from Courtney Coco’s sister, mother, and other family members while they searched assiduously for her criminal, David’s indictment and sentencing caused harm to them.
David’s decision to become a youth pastor was challenged by Stephanie. She claimed that he was using it to conceal his criminal background from the public.
Stephanie, Coco’s mother, has yet to reconcile with her daughter’s horrific passing even after all these years.
Her final phrase, “I want my baby girl back,” made it quite evident how David’s act had stolen a priceless piece of her life.
