Emilia Carr was in a love rivalry with a woman by the name of Heather Strong that would end in murder and with Emila sent to death row in Florida.
Emilia Carr was dating a man named Josh Fulgham who use to date Heather Strong and the pair had two children together. When Heather Strong left Josh she would move in with another man in order to take care of his children however the work relationship turned to an intimate one.
According to witnesses Josh Fulgham would harass Heather Strong and her new boyfriend however things would take an odd turn when Strong would leave her new boyfriend to return to Josh. Josh and Heather would actually get married but within a week Heather would be calling the police on her new husband.
Josh Fulgham would spend sometime sitting in jail and would rekindle his relationship with Emila Carr who was pregnant with his child. Emilia tried to convince Heather Strong to drop the charges however she refused to do so. Emilia would step up her intimidation by grabbing Strong and putting a knife to her throat demanding that she drop the charges.
Around this time Emilia Carr would decide they only way that she and Josh could be together was to get rid of Heather Strong so she tried to find a hit man that would murder the other woman for five hundred bucks. Her search came up empty.
Heather Strong would go missing on February 15 2009 and the last time she was seen she was in a vehicle with Josh Fulgham. Ten days later Heather Strong was reported missing by her cousin and when police began to investigate the missing woman all paths led to Josh Fulgham and Emilia Carr.
The story that would come out later is that Josh Fulhgham had convinced Heather Strong to go back to his trailer as he told her that Emilia Carr had hidden money in the home. When they arrived at the trailer Emilia, who was seven months pregnant, jumped out with a knife in her hand.
The pair would duct tape Heather Strong to a chair where she was then forced to sign over custody of the two kids she shared with Josh Fulgham. Josh would break a flashlight over the head of Strong then a garbage bag was put over Heather’s head and duct taped by Emilia Carr. Josh would use his hand to smother Heather Strong until she stopped breathing
The pair would leave Heather Strong in the chair and Josh would come back two days later where he would move the body and bury it in a shallow grave.
When the two were being questioned by police Josh would tell police where they could find the body of Heather Strong and blamed the murder on Emilia.
Emilia Carr who was friends with Josh’s sister would confess to her on how exactly the murder took place which was way different than what she had told police. Eventually Emilia would tell police more than they needed to know.
Emilia Carr would be convicted rather quickly and would be sentenced to death. Emilia would refuse to testify against Josh and ultimately he would be sentenced to life in prison with no parole. Emilia would remain on death row until 2017 when she was resentened to life in prison without parole.
Emilia Carr 2022 Information
| DC Number: | U24131 |
|---|---|
| Name: | CARR, EMILIA L |
| Race: | HISPANIC |
| Sex: | FEMALE |
| Birth Date: | 08/04/1984 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 02/23/2011 |
| Current Facility: | LOWELL C.I. |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | SENTENCED TO LIFE |
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Emilia Carr, once Marion County’s only female death row inmate, will now spend the rest of her life in prison.
After an evidentiary hearing May 19, the State declined to seek a new death penalty phase, according to court records, and 5th Judicial Circuit Court Judge Willard Pope resentenced Carr, 32, to life in prison without parole. She has been fighting her death sentence since 2011. There are now only three women on death row in the state of Florida.
A Marion County jury in 2010 found Carr guilty as charged of kidnapping and first-degree murder in the 2009 death of 26-year-old Heather Strong. Carr and her boyfriend, co-defendant Joshua Fulgham, 35, lured his estranged wife, Strong, to a storage trailer in Boardman in north Marion County.
When Carr arrived, Strong tried to leave and a scuffle ensued. Fulgham held Strong down as Carr taped her to a chair. Fulgham then forced Strong to sign a document that gave him custody of their two children.
Carr placed a garbage bag over Strong’s head and Fulgham held it tight and wrapped tape around his wife’s neck. Carr tried twice to break Strong’s neck. Carr said Fulgham then put his hands over Strong’s nose and mouth, and suffocated her.
Strong’s body was found near the trailer four days later.
The jury voted 7-5 to recommend death for Carr. Fulgham was sentenced to life in 2012 with a vote of 8-4.
Carr appealed her sentence, raising several issues including possible errors by the trial judge and the proportionality of the death sentence.
In 2015, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Carr’s death sentence.
“This case involves a love triangle between the victim, Heather Strong, her estranged husband, Joshua Fulgham, and the defendant, Emilia Carr, that ended when Carr and Fulgham carried out their plan to murder Strong,” the high court wrote in its decision.
Carr restarted the appeal process, claiming ineffective assistance from her lawyer. It was during an evidentiary hearing on this appeal that her fate changed.
Neither the State or defense attorneys were available Tuesday for comment.
Carr’s resentencing comes at a pivotal time for Florida’s death penalty.
After being ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in January 2016, Florida’s death sentence scheme became a topic of debate and revision. The Florida Supreme Court released an opinion in October 2016 calling for a unanimous jury.
In March of this year, Gov. Rick Scott signed new rules requiring a unanimous jury decision for the death sentence. The Florida Supreme Court is still hammering out final jury instructions for the new death sentence scheme.
Several appeals for resentencings have entered the state Supreme Court’s queue. Of the now seven convicted Marion County murderers on death row, one is arguing for a reduced sentence of life on an intellectual disability claim, two were granted resentencing by the Florida Supreme Court, the other four are still fighting their death sentence with various appeals.
Eight Marion County defendants await sentencing in death penalty-eligible cases. Kelvin Coleman is scheduled to be the first local defendant to put the state’s new death penalty ruling to the test. Jury selection for the penalty phase of his trial starts Aug. 21. Coleman was convicted in October 2016 of two counts of first-degree murder.
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Josh Fulgham 2021 Information
| DC Number: | 134868 |
|---|---|
| Name: | FULGHAM, JOSHUA D |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | MALE |
| Birth Date: | 08/16/1981 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 05/02/2012 |
| Current Facility: | SANTA ROSA C.I. |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | SENTENCED TO LIFE |