COURTNEY COCO: Jury selection set to begin Tuesday for David Burns trial

ALEXANDRIA, La. (KALB) - Jury selection begins Tuesday, Oct. 25 for David Anthony Burns, 46 of Boyce. Burns is charged with second-degree murder for the Oct. 2004 death of Courtney Coco, 19 of Alexandria.

The trial is expected to last two weeks, with jury selection possibly lasting the entire first week.

Coco’s body was found in an abandoned building in Winnie, Texas on Oct. 4, 2004. Detectives said she was strangled and believe that her body was wrapped in her comforter and dumped in Texas. It is believed that Coco may have died the day before.

Burns was indicted by a Rapides Parish grand jury on April 13, 2021, nearly 17 years after Coco died.

Last month, Special Assistant District Attorney Hugo Holland filed a motion suggesting a motive. The motion claims that information provided in discovery “proves that the defendant was having a sexual relationship with the victim at the time of her disappearance despite the fact that he was dating the victim’s sister.”

It goes on to suggest that the relationship is relevant to showing the motive Burns had to kill Coco, suggesting he was a spurned lover based on the position her body was found in.

Judge Mary Doggett noted that evidence would be allowed into the trial based on that motion if properly introduced.

Burns is represented by public defender Christopher LaCour.

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