The arraignment hearing for a Shepherdsville mother accused of murdering her two children last November is being postponed after she was originally scheduled to appear Thursday in Bullitt County Circuit Court to change her plea to guilty.
Bullitt County Prosecutor Bailey Taylor said Tuesday that Tiffanie Lucas is expected to change her plea to an open guilty plea after she initially intended to plead not guilty by reason of insanity. An open plea, commonly known as the defendant putting himself “at the mercy of the court,” limits the prosecutor’s demands by asking the judge to hear directly about the case and the mitigating circumstances.
“There is no agreement between the community and the defendant,” Taylor said. “Of course we will ask for the maximum sentence available, but that is a bit of a long way off as there will only be an application on Thursday.”
He continued by saying the judge would likely set sentencing for about a month after the status hearing. In an email Wednesday evening, Taylor said a new date was unknown at this time and the judge had asked for a postponement due to his family’s illness.
Tiffany Lucas A Bullitt County mother accused of killing her 2 sons is expected to plead guilty
Lucas is charged with two counts of murder, and on September 11, she entered a plea to use the “insanity defense” in her upcoming jury trial on December 17. Later that month, Lucas was also asked to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
The charges follow deputies who responded to Lucas’ home after receiving a report of shots fired in November 2023. They found her sons, ages 6 and 9, with gunshot wounds in a bedroom at the home on 200 Bentwood Drive. They were taken to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, where they later died.
Lucas’ arrest note states that a witness at the scene identified Lucas as the shooter, and a gun was found in the room where the children were found. He is currently being held at the Bullitt County Detention Center on $2 million bail.
Krista Johnson contributed to this report. Contact breaking news reporter Marina Johnson at [email protected].
This article originally appeared in the Louisville Courier Journal: Hearing postponed for Bullitt County mom Tiffanie Lucas