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More than four years after being indicted for the murder of his wife, Lisa McCoy, James Richard McCoy was sentenced to 30 years in prison after accepting a plea deal with the State in Coffee County Circuit Court Monday.

McCoy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, a Class A felony, as well as felony abuse of a corpse, a Class E felony and tampering with evidence, a Class C felony.

“Mr. McCoy is indicted in a seven count indictment, he will be pleading guilty to the first three counts,” District Attorney Craig Northcott said during the hearing. “Count 1 was first-degree premeditated murder for the brutal and senseless murder of Lisa McCoy. As part of this plea, we agree he will plead guilty to the lesser included offense of second-degree murder as a Class A felony.”

McCoy was given the maximum sentence of 25 years to be served at 100% for the charge of second-degree murder, two-years for the felony abuse of a corpse charge and three years for the tampering with evidence charge. Both lesser charges are to be served at 30%, and McCoy will be credited for the time he has spent in jail awaiting his trial.

“Mr. McCoy is receiving way more grace and mercy than he deserves today. At the urging of the family, the State would ask that the Court accept this agreement,” Northcott said.

Coffee County Circuit Court Judge William Lockhart said the sentences will be served consecutively to each other.

“This is an affective 30 year sentence,” Northcott said. “Had this matter preceded to trial, the State would have proven beyond a reasonable doubt that this defendant did brutally murder Lisa McCoy on Sept 8, 2018.”

Northcott said McCoy had a history of “physically, emotionally and verbally” abusing his wife.

“He threatened to kill her multiple times if she ever left him,” he said.

“On the night of Sept. 8, it was clear that Lisa McCoy had intended to leave the defendant,” Northcott said. “They got home from an event, at which time he carried out his threat by firing at least 12 shots into the head and neck of Lisa McCoy at point blank range.”

Northcott said McCoy then preceded to dismember Lisa McCoy before placing her body in the trunk of her vehicle.

“The scene was so well cleaned over the course of six hours that when you walked into this crime scene, you could not tell that this homicide had even occurred,” he said.

After McCoy pleaded guilty to the charges, the siblings of Lisa McCoy read their victim impact statements before the Court.

“This man is an evil monster that should never ever see the light of day again and is a danger to society,” Lisa McCoy’s sister Vickie Kunz said. “No family should ever have to experience the kind of pain he has caused us the past four-and- a-half-years.”

Kunz said her sister was one of her best friends, and she is thankful for the time they were able to spend together at her home in Michigan in July 2018.

“Little did I know when I said goodbye to Lisa when she was leaving my home in Michigan in the wee hours of July 11, 2018, that it would be the last time I saw her alive,” she said.

Lisa McCoy’s brother Samuel Jones said he remembers being on his way to church when he received a phone call to get to Manchester as soon as possible.

“So many thoughts were talked about between my wife and myself, but once we arrived our deepest fears had come true. Lisa’s life was taken by this monster,” Jones said. “We have fought for Lisa for years in the courtroom. Through hurt, anger, tears and sorrow, the day has finally come that we finally got justice for Lisa.”