Married Mo. Principal Learns Fate After Getting Teacher Pregnant, Then Paying to Have Her Murdered

A married Missouri middle school principal who hired a hitman to kill a teacher he impregnated was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison.

Cornelius Green, 42, the former principal of Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School in St. Louis, learned his fate on Tuesday, June 25, when a U.S. District judge handed down the sentence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri announced in a release.

In February, Green pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire in the deaths of Jocelyn Peters, 30, a third grade teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School in St. Louis, and her unborn child, Micah Leigh, in 2016. Peters was 7 months pregnant at the time.

In March, Phillip J. Cutler, 46, of Muskogee, Okla., the man Green hired to kill Peters, was found guilty of the same charges. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison last week.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Peters’ mother, Lacey Peters, said Green was supposed to be her daughter's protector "but became her executioner," the release states. 

“All she ever did was love him, and she loved that baby so much,” she added.

Peters mistakenly believed she was the only woman in Green’s life, and that Green was divorcing his wife, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

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Green also researched ways to secretly poison the unborn baby by crushing pills and hiding them in oatmeal or yogurt, the U.S. Attorney's office said.

When that didn't work, Green contacted Cutler, a longtime friend, and stole money from the dance team’s fundraiser at Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School to pay for the murder of Peters and her baby, according to the release.

“He literally stole from children to pay for killing his own child,” said Dr. Nicole Conaway, who was the principal of Mann Elementary when Peters worked there, per the release.

Green sent Cutler a UPS package containing $2,500 cash on March 7, 2016, the release says. Two weeks later, Cutler arrived in St. Louis. At that time, Green took a train trip to Chicago to establish his alibi for the murder and gave Cutler the keys to his vehicle and Peters’ apartment. 

On March 24, Cutler drove Green’s car to Peters’ apartment, let himself in using Green’s keys, and shot Peters in the eye using a potato as a silencer, the release says.

Peters was working on baby shower invitations at the time she was killed. Her family remains heartbroken by her death.

“Jocelyn had a light around her at all times,” her cousin, Dedra Peters, said, according to the release.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.