Ronald A. Burdette pleaded guilty in the killing of his wife, Cindy Burdette. (Screenshots from CBS affiliate WLKY)
A Kentucky man pleaded guilty to shooting and killing his wife and wounding his then 11-year-old daughter in the neck before her twin brother called 911 at their home last summer.
Ronald A. Burdette showed no emotion on Monday in a Jefferson County courtroom where he pleaded to murder, assault and wanton endangerment for the shooting that killed Cindy Burdette on May 15, 2022, reported local CBS affiliate WLKY from the courtroom.
He will have to serve 20 years in prison before he’s eligible for parole. His sentencing hearing was set for Aug. 17, court records show.
“It’s time to move on,” Erica Stilger, Cindy Burdette’s oldest daughter, told WLKY outside the courtroom. “We can all finally move on, I feel like, hopefully.”
Another daughter, Cortney Burdette, told the station that Burdette will be 75 if he ever gets out of prison, but “I don’t see him being a part of our life anymore.”
Cortney Burdette also spoke about her slain mother.
“She always felt like she never did enough, but I think as we got older, she definitely did plenty for us, and I wish she still could,” Cortney Burdette told WLKY as she broke into tears.
Authorities were alerted to the tragedy when the twins called police and told officers their mother had been shot in their home, WDRB reported, citing court documents. The girl was hit by a bullet to her neck and survived. The boy was not injured.
An email to the Louisville-Jefferson County Public Defender’s Office seeking comment wasn’t immediately returned.
Stilger, who became the “Big Sister Mom” — taking care of her twin siblings while raising her family, set up a fundraising site to help pay for a proper headstone for her mother.
“Our father murdered our mother and also shot my little twin sister in the neck,” she wrote. “Our little twin brother was also there at the time and saved my little sister’s life.
“This is something that myself, my middle sister, and twin siblings have to deal with the rest of our lives.”
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