A family member holds up a picture of Amelia Wakefield as her former boyfriend and killer, Cody Coleman, departs court in 2019. (Photo by Tyler Murphy)

NORWICH – According to investigators, on the evening of May 3, 2019, an 18-year-old Cody D. Coleman shot his teen girlfriend because she wanted to go to the high school prom without him.

Coleman was sentenced to 20 years in prison by Chenango County Court Judge Frank Revoir Jr. after pleading guilty to first degree manslaughter in December as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. He was initially charged with murder and facing 25 years to life.

He killed 16-year-old Amelia Wakefield inside his family's home in the Town of Smithville.

Inside the home police found Wakefield, an Oxford student, with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. Police said the weapon used was a 16 gauge shotgun.

At first police said Coleman told them it was an accident.

In court police said the findings of a pathology report determined the angle of the victim's wound indicated the gun was fired from a raised or even level. Investigators said the evidence contradicted the defendant's claim that the gun fired as it fell, which would have indicted an upward angle of impact.

“Amelia wanted to go to her prom, and she had purchased her dress and had tried it on for her girlfriends to see. She told at least two of her girlfriends that she was going to prom with or without the defendant,” said Chenango County District Attorney Michael Ferrarese.

Coleman was banned from school functions, including prom, and was not allowed on school grounds because he had been previously expelled by the school.

“Once the defendant realized that efforts to stop Amelia from going to the prom were futile he resorted to what he knows best: physical violence,” Ferrarese told the court.

The DA said the issue caused a lingering argument between the victim and Coleman. He said Coleman's emotions and anger eventually overwhelmed him, and he shot Amelia.

Ferrarese said friends of Amelia had overheard the couple fighting about the issue the night before her death and that Coleman had ordered her not to go to the prom without him.

“The evidence in this case showed the defendant is a hot tempered, manipulating, controlling, impatient person that uses whatever means necessary to get what he wants,” said Ferrarese.

“And I do hope that Amelia's voice will reach those that are currently victims of domestic violence, to provide those individuals with the strength to speak up and stop the cycle of abuse.

“And just maybe her voice can strike a chord with those who commit acts of domestic violence to get help they so desperately need because it is not acceptable,” said the DA.

In the wake of the killing the victim's family sought to raise awareness of domestic violence and founded a charity, Amelia’s Voice.

On their website the group states:

“May 3rd, 2019 we lost Amelia to a senseless act of domestic violence. Amelia was a beautiful young lady who lost her life trying to get out of an abusive relationship. Amelia's story is like so many others. If you or a loved one is in an abusive relationship or suffering from domestic violence please see our resources.”

More information can be found at ameliasvoice.com.

Ferrarese thanked the New York State Police and medical examiner's office for their key forensic assistance. He also thanked the Chenango County Sheriff's Office for their criminal investigation, as well as the first officer on the scene, who secured the site and key evidence.

The Gun Fell Over?

The first police officer on the scene that night was Village of Greene Officer Dominick Commesso, who was working part-time for the department.

A former EMT, he has served as an officer for about 19 years. He was on duty that Friday night when a 911 call came in.

“There was a call of shots fired, someone may have been injured,” Commesso told the Chenango County Court in October of 2019. “It sounded a little confusing so I started to head out that way. I headed that way to assist.”

The officer said the scene of the call was only about five or six miles away. “It seemed like forever, but it wasn't very long,” before he arrived.

“As I turned onto Water Street, I seen a bunch of people standing in the road and I assume they seen me, they were waving so I proceeded to where they were standing,” he said. “I was there to try and assist the person that was injured.”

“I jumped out and I observed the young man sitting on bilco doors, he had blood on him so I thought he was the injured person so I came out to see what happened.”

“He said it wasn't him, it was his girlfriend. She was across the street,” testified Commesso.

“He said she was dead. And I went upstairs to see if I could assist her, to confirm if she was dead or alive,” he said. “It was a horrific thing. There was nothing I could do.”

Prosecutors presented medical findings showing the victim had been killed by a close range gunshot to the head.

“I backed out of the residence and I went over to see, because I thought maybe he was injured because he was covered with blood. I went over, talked to him, asked him what happened. He told me that he broke his ankle so I requested an ambulance, then I secured the scene so that EMS could respond.”

Commesso testified that Coleman told him, “That the gun fell over, he reached for it and it went off.” He said he did not view Coleman as a criminal suspect at the time.

The officer then began to secure the scene and put up police tape. Commesso was an assisting officer there to secure public safety and offer medical aid, any investigation would be in the jurisdictions of the New York State Police and Chenango County Sheriff's Office, who were on the way.

Justice for Amelia: Remember her

In court Monday a member of the victim's family spoke.

“Today is justice for Amelia. Today is hers, and hers alone. Which is why I will never say your name. I don't want anyone to ever remember you. I don't want anyone to know you existed,” said Rebecca Walling, Amelia's aunt, who spoke for the family at Coleman's sentencing Monday.

She gave a heartfelt and scathing statement as Coleman listened.

When given his own chance to speak by Judge Revoir, Coleman shook his head and declined.

Walling said she never wanted Amelia's name associated with the defendant's again. Her greatest wish was for Amelia to have never met him.

“From the first time I saw you, I knew you were absolute trouble. I don't like to judge a book by its cover, so I made several attempts to get this gut wrenching feeling out of my stomach. It never left.”

She blamed Coleman for all the lost time with “Mia,” called the defendant “garbage,” and she said didn't trust him or the people around him.

“I felt like my back was pushed against the wall and I was forced to make the decision to let Amelia live her own life, with a little less of us in it because you were around. I wish I was stronger and could have pulled Amelia away with us.

“I have so many memories of my beautiful niece and goddaughter from when she was a tiny baby all the way up to her last couple of days on this Earth.

“I will not give you the pleasure to hear of those amazing days. You deserve to know that you, and only you, are the sole reason we all now live each day without her. “

Walling said she wanted Coleman to have to witness the scene of the crime every day.

“I hope you never get to see her smile, or hear her laugh in your dreams. Instead I hope you see her scared to death and hear her screams, and I hope you carry that with you forever.

“You deserve the worst in prison. Twenty years is hardly an exchange for someone's life, but hopefully God has something worse in store for you. I know there is supposed to be something in this speech about forgiveness, but that's just not in the cards,” said Walling.

She said Amelia's mother and father, along with the rest of the family, had been emotionally “destroyed” by her sudden and violent death.

She said she didn't want to focus on the family's suffering, “and talk about all the sleep we have lost, or how functioning on a daily basis is hard and some days seem impossible, or how our relationships with family and friends have changed, or how much counseling we have all had to go through...”

“If there's anything we can save from this horrific nightmare it's that we hope we can save at least one more victim from experiencing all that our family has,” she said.

“We are going to make sure Amelia lives on forever. We will make it impossible for people to forget about her. We will make sure that everyone forgets you. But we will pray that God remembers you when your days come to an end, not to lend you forgiveness but to make sure you get what you deserve: an eternity in Hell.”

As part of his guilty plea Coleman surrendered his right to appeal.