Naman Shrestha
Jocelyn Peters was a reputed third-grade teacher at a local school in St. Louis, Missouri. So, when she and her unborn child were found dead inside her apartment in March 2016, the entire community was shaken to its core, while grief took over her family and friends. As the detectives followed an unusual trail of evidence, they uncovered a shocking murder-for-hire plot that led them to the mastermind behind her killing. All the intricate details of the case and the investigation that followed were covered in the episode titled ‘Jocelyn Peters and the Notebook’ of CBS’ ’48 Hours.’
Jocelyn Peters Was Seven Months Pregnant When She Was Killed in Her Home
The beloved daughter of Lacey Eileen Peters, Jocelyn Delores Peters, was welcomed into the world on January 7, 1986. She was raised in a warm and supportive environment alongside her brothers, Antwoine and Antonio Graham, as well as a loving sister, Asia Graham. Jocelyn was a bright and thoughtful individual from a young age with a genuine curiosity towards life. A kindhearted personality, she led her life with patience and compassion and never hesitated to help others. These qualities naturally drove her towards building a career in education as a teacher, a role she was quite proud of and from which she achieved immense fulfillment. By the time 2016 rolled around, she had built a fulfilling life in St. Louis, Missouri, where she worked at Horace Mann Elementary School.
Jocelyn harbored a deep love for books, a childhood passion she kept alive well into adulthood. Determined to share that love with others, the third-grade teacher even set up a book donation drive for the school and went on to gather over 2,000 books. She had a close-knit group of people she valued and cherished with all her heart, including her partner, Cornelius Green, whom she had been dating for a while. In late March 2016, Jocelyn was 31 weeks pregnant and gearing up to embrace the next chapter in her life — becoming a doting mother. She resided at the 4200 block of West Pine Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri, and was eagerly looking forward to the birth of her baby, Micah Leigh.
In her seventh month of pregnancy, the mother-to-be was filled with anticipation and excitement about her upcoming baby shower, which she had been carefully planning for weeks. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to enjoy it as her life took a devastating turn on March 24, 2016. On the day, Jocelyn was busy putting together the invitations on her bed in her apartment. Sometime later, the authorities received a call from Cornelius, reporting that Jocelyn had been fatally shot. Upon the arrival of the police, they found the 30-year-old dead from a gunshot wound. Upon further inspection, they noted that there were no signs of forced entry in her apartment.
Jocelyn Peters’ Murder Was Plotted by Someone Close to Her
As part of the investigation, the authorities delved deeper into the life of Jocelyn Peters and the circumstances surrounding her tragic demise. They learned that her boyfriend, Cornelius M. Green, the principal of Carr Lane Visual & Performing Arts Middle School located near downtown St. Louis, was married. However, he reportedly convinced Jocelyn that he would divorce his wife and start a new life with her. The detectives believed that her unborn child, Micah Leigh, was from Cornelius. Previously, she had miscarried and also terminated another pregnancy, allegedly at his urging. Jocelyn was unaware of the fact that he had at least one more woman with whom he was having an affair. Moreover, Cornelius was secretly planning to kill Jocelyn by poisoning her.
He had reportedly tried to crush a lethal dosage of pills and hide them in her meal, but the plan failed. The middle school principal then enlisted the help of one of his friends, Phillip J. Cutler of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and hired him to carry out the killing of Jocelyn and her unborn child. In order to pay Phillip for the murder, Cornelius stole money from his school’s dance team’s fundraiser. As the two plotted the murder over phone conversations and finalized the plan, Jocelyn’s boyfriend sent Phillip a UPS package with $2,500 cash on March 7, 2016. A couple of weeks later, on March 21, Phillip traveled to St. Louis and was provided with the keys to Cornelius’ car and Jocelyn’s apartment in the 4200 block of West Pine. Meanwhile, the principal headed to Chicago by train to establish a believable alibi for later.
On the fateful day of March 24, 2016, Phillip drove down to Jocelyn’s apartment and shot her to death using a potato as a silencer. Once the hitman told Cornelius that he had killed Jocelyn and the unborn baby, Cornelius returned to St. Louis and asked her mother to perform a welfare check on her. When the mother couldn’t go to the apartment, he headed to the apartment himself and reported Jocelyn’s death to the police, pretending to have no knowledge of the crime. The investigation led them to Phillip, whose cell phone records placed him near Jocelyn’s apartment at the time of the murder. Thus, while he was trying to hand over Cornelius’ car keys to his estranged wife, the police took him into custody. During the interrogation, the hitman ate pieces of paper after he was told that he was being detained.
The Killers Received the Same Sentences For the Murder-For-Hire Plot
In June 2016, Phillip Cutler was reportedly charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action. A couple of months later, in August, Cornelius was arrested for stealing $2,700 from the student dance group’s fundraiser at the school where he served as a principal. In October 2016, he was also linked to the murder-for-hire plot and charged with the same counts as Phillip. In addition, he was also charged with three counts of receiving stolen property. Several years later, on February 28, 2024, in order to avoid the death penalty, Cornelius Green pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire in connection with the killings of Jocelyn Peters and her unborn child, Micah Leigh.
The following month, Phillip J. Cutler was found guilty of the charges against him. Around mid-June 2024, Phillip was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison for his involvement in the crime. On June 25, during Cornelius’ sentencing hearing, Jocelyn’s mother, Lacey Peters, took the stand and addressed the convict. “All she ever did was love him and she loved that baby so much…It just shows his character. He tried to hold his head down, but he didn’t really have any remorse.” She further added, “There will never be anything that will bring her back and I think that’s the hard part. I hope he never sees the light of day for what he’s done.” Ultimately, Cornelius was also sentenced to two consecutive life terms for hiring his friend to kill Jocelyn.
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