Jessica Marie Lunsford (October 6, 1995 – February 27, 2005) was an American nine-year-old girl who was abducted from her home in Homosassa, Florida on February 24, 2005, then raped and murdered by 46-year-old John Couey, a known sex offender.
The media covered the investigation and trial of her killer extensively. On August 24, 2007, a judge in Inverness, Florida sentenced Couey, a convicted sex offender, to death for kidnapping, raping and murdering her. On September 30, 2009, before the sentences could be carried out, Couey died of natural causes.
Lunsford's murder influenced the legislation in Florida known as "Jessica's Law". It is designed to protect potential victims and reduce a sexual offender's ability to re-offend. It has influenced legislation in forty-two other states.