Lexington woman faces second trial on charges of killing husband after first ended in mistrial
Fayette County prosecutors will attempt for a second time to convict a 76-year-old woman for the murder of her husband in a jury trial scheduled to begin Monday.
The first trial of Carol Ann Hignite, 76, ended in a mistrial in December 2022 amid national attention, including a broadcast by Court TV. After eight hours of deliberation, the jurors said they were “hopelessly deadlocked.”
Hignite is charged with murder, abusing or neglecting an elderly person and arson after prosecutors say she killed her husband, Leon Dewayne Hignite, with a hammer, left him lying dead for days, and then set their home on fire.
Hignite’s lawyers argue their client’s husband has severe health issues, fell in the bathroom, and the fire was accidental.
Hignite has been in jail since her arrest just days after police found her husband.
What happened in the first trial
Carol Hignite told investigators her husband fell in the bathroom of their Holly Springs Drive home, near Lane Allen Road, on the night of Sept. 25, 2017. He tried to get up, but instead fell again and hit his head on the bathroom sink, she said.
He had fallen before, and she couldn’t get in the bathroom to help him because the door was locked, she told investigators.
When he did leave the bathroom, Carol Hignite said she checked on her husband periodically, but didn’t think his injuries were severe enough to call an ambulance, according to court records. He was on the bedroom floor for days before she called emergency services on Sept. 28.
Prosecutors suggested a few theories for why Hignite may have killed her husband during the first trial. Maybe she wanted to move away and not take her husband, they said, or perhaps she got mad and went “overboard.”
Carol Hignite was represented at that trial by Russell Baldani and Tucker Richardson.
Baldani spoke with the Herald-Leader after the first trial and said the jury was prepared to find Carol Hignite not guilty of arson and guilty of abusing an elderly person. One juror refused to find Hignite guilty of the murder charge.
After the mistrial was declared, a bond hearing was held in February 2023 to determine if Carol Hignite could be released while she awaited the second trial. The lone holdout juror, Elizabeth Yellstrom, testified on Hignite’s behalf, arguing that she believed the woman is innocent.
Fayette Circuit Judge Diane Minnifield ultimately denied the bond, contending that Hignite was a danger to the community.
Baldani and Richardson withdrew as Hignite’s attorneys at the hearing because they said she did not have funds to continue to pay them or to pay for more experts at a second trial.
What to expect in the new trial
Carol Hignite has a new defense team, including Ben Church, J. Parker Mincy and Natalie Hurst-Rollins.
Her lawyers have already made motions to exclude several people’s testimony, including the Hignites’ daughter and a Lexington police officer, and to bar the use of the words “blood spatter” and photos of Hignite in a hospital bed.
They also requested that there be no mention of the first trial — a request Minnifield granted.
Use of the words “blood spatter” and photos will be allowed. The testimony of Hignite’s daughter and the officer will be determined as the trial progresses.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin Thursday, and prosecutors’ openings will begin Monday.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
