Cory Hill: Florida man accused of killing wife, hiding body in storage locker faces death penalty

ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA: Cory Hill, accused of killing his estranged wife Shakeira Rucker and leaving her body in a storage locker, will face the death penalty, Orange-Osceola State State Attorney Andrew Bain announced on Thursday, January 18.

Authorities claim that Hill went to his girlfriend's house a few hours after killing Rucker and opened fire on her and many of her family members.

What did Cory Hill do? 

Four more counts of attempted murder, burglary, firing into a building, possessing a firearm while a felon, and violating a domestic violence injunction by threatening violence were all included in the indictment against him. 

According to the document, as per Law and Crime, prosecutors claim they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt at least three of the aggravating factors that can make a crime eligible for capital punishment.

That the alleged murder "was committed in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification" and that it was "especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel" are among the aggravating reasons listed in the complaint.

An aggravating circumstance, according to the state, is that Hill was previously convicted of a felony involving "the use or threat of violence to a person." In 1992, Hill was found guilty of second-degree murder in connection with the death of a man in Suffolk County, Virginia.

When Hill, then 20, realized that an 18-year-old had stolen his 1988 Ford Tempo while his daughter was still inside, he shot the man to death. Following a disagreement, Hill went to the teen's house and shot him multiple times.

A jury convicted Hill the following year, and he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. As reported by Law&Crime, Rucker was last seen on November 11 and wasn’t found until a week later, on November 18, when a “distinct odor of human decomposition” was emanating from the storage locker in Apopka, a suburb of Orlando, a probable cause affidavit said.

Detectives found four spent cartridge casings, including one in her hair, and blood on the walls and floor.

Additionally, Video surveillance later showed a car with two people inside fitting the descriptions of Hill and Rucker driving into a storage facility and Hill punching in his code to enter his unit shortly after 6.30 am on November 12.

Hill left the facility alone about 20 minutes later. Rucker’s family contacted him to ask about her whereabouts, but Hill said he was not with her. Her family also received a text message around 6.45 am, conveying that she was on her way home, the affidavit said.

Investigators reported that Rucker had just learned that Hill had been seeing another woman passionately, and neither of the women had known the other.

Investigators added that after learning that Hill was married, the ex-girlfriend broke up with him. When she spotted Hill's car on November 12 while waiting outside her Kissimmee house with her cousin and her two children, Hill's ex-girlfriend informed Orange County Sheriff's deputies. According to the affidavit, Hill stepped out of his car and began shooting at them. She thought she heard a "bullet fly closely by her ear" as she and her family fled into the house.

Shakeira Rucker is survived by four children 

Hill allegedly broke a kitchen window to get inside and started screaming her name.

The affidavit stated that Hill then broke down the bedroom door where the cousin and children were hiding and told one of them, "Take me to your mommy," while keeping the rifle by his side.

The woman claimed that after they dated for roughly two months, she called a woman who was later revealed to be Hill's wife, and this caused him to get irritated.

Hill stated in the affidavit that she would "regret it." Detectives reported that deputies discovered four rounds inside the house and that security footage showed Hill carrying a gun inside.

Shakeira Rucker was survived by four children, aged 7, 9, 16 and 18. The family has started a GoFundMe account for her children, which has raised a little over $35,000.

“She was a loving mother to four beautiful children and a victim of senseless violence,” Debra Rucker, Shakeira Rucker’s sister, wrote on the fundraising page.