The Murder of Makia Coney
For this case, I watched an episode of Signs of a Psychopath. It’s season 6 episode 7, titled ‘Kids Will Be Kids.’
A 17-year-old girl is found dead in a vacant lot.
Background
Makia Coney lived in Jacksonville, Florida, and attended University Christian School. Not much is known about Makia’s life, but she was described as having a big heart and an infectious smile.
Makia Coney
The Discovery
On February 10, 2010, Makia’s body was found in a vacant lot. She had been shot twice at close range. The police also found fresh tire tracks from a truck at the crime scene.
The police interviewed teachers and students at University Christian School. They also were out in the parking lot taking photos of tires.
At the school, the police found a truck with tires that matched the tire tracks at the crime scene. The truck belonged to Charles Southern, who was also 17 at the time.
Charles was interviewed on February 11, 2010.
The First Interview
It was revealed that Charles and Makia had an on and off again relationship. Charles was asked if he knew of anyone else who’d want to hurt her. He said no. The police noticed that Charles wasn’t showing any emotion. They asked him if it bothered him that Makia was dead. He said yes, but never showed any emotion in his interviews.
Charles was asked where he was on the day that Makia’s body was found. Charles said he was hanging out with his friend, Connor Pridgen in the weight room around 3:30 pm.
Charles later changed his story and said that Connor and Makia had walked to Taco Bell.
He Said-He Said
On February 12, the police interviewed Connor Pridgen.
Connor said the only time that he talked to or saw Makia was in the hallways at school. He said he wasn’t close with her. The police had obtained surveillance footage of Connor and Makia at school.
After showing Connor the surveillance footage, they asked if he wanted to tell them something. Connor said, “I witnessed something.” He said he had witnessed Charles shoot Makia, but said it was an accident. Connor said Charles had pulled out a 6 shot revolver and was waving it around in the air.
The police knew that Makia had been shot twice. Connor was asked about the 2nd shot. He said Makia had been on the ground and was shot again almost immediately. The police told Connor that Makia was executed, so they knew it was not an accident.
During the interview, the police received a phone call from Charles. On the phone call, Charles could be heard blaming the murder on Connor.
Connor denied it. He was asked by the police if he would sit down face-to-face with Charles to confront him. Connor agreed but said that Charles would deny it.
The Arrests
The police sat down with Charles again before bringing him face-to-face with Connor. The police referred to Charles as a sociopath. He showed more emotion about being called a sociopath than he did about Makia’s death.
Charles and Connor were put into the same room. Charles said that Connor had threatened to shoot him if he told anyone about what had just happened. Connor then said that Charles had shot Makia first at point-blank range. It seemed like Connor had slipped up, and accidentally admitted that he had shot Makia too.
The police told Charles and Connor that Makia probably could have survived after the first shot.
Charles said he had the gun and had pulled the hammer back. He said he had just wanted to scare Makia. Connor said it was not an accident. He said Charles had been aiming at Makia’s head. Connor said he shot Makia the 2nd time because he didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
Both are arrested and charged with murder.
The Motive
On June 16, 2010, the police interviewed Connor again. They still weren’t sure who was telling the truth.
Connor said that Charles had gotten into a fight with Makia at school. He said Charles had been messing around with other girls, but became angry when Makia was moving on with other guys.
Eventually, the police learned that both teenagers had wanted to see what it was like to kill someone. Connor said he had always been fascinated by video games. He said he was curious about what it would be like to kill someone in real life.
Connor said they had lured Makia out by asking her to smoke cigars with them. Connor said Charles had looked at him while standing almost directly behind Makia. He said Charles had pulled out the gun from his waistband. Makia had never seen it coming.
Connor said he also grabbed his gun from his waistband. He and Charles had argued about whether or not Connor was going to shoot Makia. Connor admitted to lying to the police in his earlier interviews.
What Really Happened?
On July 1, 2010, the police had their final interview with Charles.
Charles told the police that he and Connor had been talking about robbing people. He said Connor had told him that he probably would have to hold people up and shoot them.
Charles said there was never any motive behind killing Makia. He said she was “just someone to shoot.” He said he had to prove himself when Connor challenged him. He said they laughed about it afterward.
Charles said they would have done more had they not gotten caught.
Charles had been in trouble for robbing people while he was living in Missouri. He had decided to move to Florida to live with his extended family. Charles had stayed out of trouble for a while, but his past caught up with him.
Charles Southern and Connor Prigden both pled guilty to second-degree murder. They were both sentenced to life without parole.
Charles Southern
Connor Pridgen
Other
In 2017, Charles and Connor were given new sentencing hearings. They were both re-sentenced to life.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Charles and Connor both brought out the worst in each other. They wanted to know what it would be like to kill someone and chose Makia. Makia most likely trusted them and they killed her for no reason. I hope they have both shown a sign of remorse for what they did, but I doubt it.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/makia-coney-murder-where-are-charles-southern-and-connor-pridgen-now/
