Lunsford was abducted from her home in the early morning of February 24, 2005, by John Couey, a 46-year-old convicted sex offender who lived nearby.

On August 24, 2007, a judge in Inverness, Florida convicted Couey for the kidnapping, sexual battery, and first degree murder of Lunsford, and sentenced him to death.

[1] Couey was a 46-year-old long-time resident of Homosassa with an extensive criminal record, listing dozens of arrests for burglary and was a convicted child sex offender.

Due to the laws at the time, Couey received only short sentences and was not monitored after release, despite his record of being an experienced trespasser and his repeated sexual offenses against children.

On March 14, Couey's half-sister Dorothy Dixon gave permission to police to search her trailer at West Snowbird Court in Homosassa.

Couey had lived at the West Snowbird Court residence with Dixon; her boyfriend, Matt Dittrich; her daughter and son–in-law, Madie and Gene Secord; and her two-year-old grandson, Joshua.

After the discovery of Lunsford's body at the residence, Dixon stated that a week earlier she had given Couey money for a bus ticket, and that he had telephoned her to say he had moved to Savannah, Georgia.

Defense for Couey argued that he had suffered from a lifetime of emotional abuse and had a below normal IQ, which would enable him to avoid a death sentence under a 2002 Supreme Court ruling prohibiting the execution of mentally handicapped people.

[11] Following her death, her father, Mark Lunsford, pursued new legislation to provide more stringent tracking of released sex offenders.

[13] After receiving notice of the pending suit, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy stated that he believed the case to be "baseless...

[15][16][17] Mark Lunsford becoming an activist for children's rights after the murder of his daughter Jessica is the subject of the 2011 documentary film, Jessie's Dad.