3rd victim dies in Kentucky shooting

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HAZARD, Ky., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A 12-year-old girl Wednesday became the third fatality in a domestic dispute shooting in the parking lot of a Kentucky college parking lot, police said.

Hazard Deputy Police Chief Joe Engle confirmed Taylor Cornett died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington where she had been hospitalized in critical condition since the Tuesday shooting at First Federal Center at Hazard Community and Technical College, The Hazard Herald reported.

The other victims were her father, Jackie Cornett, 53, and a cousin, Caitlin Cornett, 20, the Lexington Herald Leader reported.

The suspected gunman, Dalton Stidham, 21, also known as Dalton Miller, who shared custody of a 2-year-old child with Caitlin Cornett, turned himself in and allegedly confessed to shooting at the victims while they sat in a car, the Hazard newspaper said. He was being held in the Kentucky River Regional Jail on murder charges.

A semiautomatic handgun, which Stidham allegedly bought just hours earlier, was recovered near the shooting scene, the Lexington newspaper said.

Caitlin Cornett and Stidham had filed civil actions against each other in their custody dispute, the Hazard newspaper said, and on Monday an order filed in the Perry County Circuit Clerk's Office stated Stidham was to have custody of the boy, Jaydien Bryant Miller, from Sunday until Tuesday evening of each week. The two were ordered to meet at Hazard Community and Technical College to exchange the child for visitation.

The southeastern Kentucky town's college was locked down for about 2 hours Tuesday because of the shooting. The parking lot where the shooting took place was near campus buildings that contained dozens of students and faculty members.