Former St. Louis principal sentenced to 2 life terms in death of pregnant teacher (2024)

ST. LOUIS — A former St. Louis middle school principal robbed students of a talented teacher, a family of a generous loved one and a baby girl of her future six years ago when he paid another man to kill his pregnant girlfriend, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Cornelius Green, 42, was sentenced to two consecutive life terms for taking $2,500 of the proceeds from a Carr Lane Visual and Performing Arts Middle School dance team fundraiser to pay a childhood friend to murder his girlfriend, Jocelyn Peters, and the unborn baby girl she had already named Micah Leigh.

“He stole their lives from them,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Becker.

Green kept his head bowed for much of Tuesday’s sentencing hearing. He spoke briefly only to say he accepted responsibility and apologized to Peters’ family. Judge Ronnie White also questioned Green about his remorse and the wide-ranging impact of his crimes.

“How about the schoolchildren?” White said. “They raised that money, and you took that money.”

“That was wrong,” White said.

“Yes sir,” Green replied quietly.

Peters became pregnant with Green’s child in 2015 after roughly five years of dating.

Green initially seemed to be on board. He promised to send out invitations to their baby shower and sent Peters listings for houses on Zillow. He also promised to finally divorce his estranged wife, and he accompanied Peters’ family on her 30th birthday celebration cruise in early 2016.

But Green didn’t want the baby. He was secretly dating multiple women and worried about his finances. He had convinced Peters years earlier to get an abortion for a previous pregnancy, but this time she wanted to keep it.

He searched online for abortion pills and how to mask their taste in oatmeal or yogurt. He looked up reasons for miscarriages and calculated how much he’d pay in child support.

On Feb. 22, 2016, he called his old friend Phillip Cutler, who was living in Oklahoma. Green agreed to send him $2,500 in exchange for killing his girlfriend. He took the money from a fundraiser at Carr Lane, where he was working as a principal.

Cutler arrived in St. Louis on March 21, 2016. Green picked him up and showed him Peters’ apartment. Then Green left for Chicago to visit friends to establish an alibi while Cutler carried out the murder.

Cutler shot her in the head.

The impact of Peters’ death was immediate. Family members spoke about the loss of a loving, generous woman who was so excited to become a mother. The students and staff at Mann Elementary School, where Peters taught third grade, were devastated, said former principal Nicole Conaway.

Conaway recalled Tuesday the pain of delivering the harrowing news to a room full of young children on the day after Peters’ death and being called to the classroom multiple times after that to console grieving children.

At one point, a young boy threatened to throw himself off of a balcony because he hated his life and wanted to be with his teacher, Conaway said. Students at Carr Lane got in fights over whether to defend Green in the wake of his charges.

“This trauma will follow them for the rest of their lives,” she said.

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kimberly M. Gardner’s office charged Green and Cutler in June 2016 with killing Peters. The office pledged to seek the death penalty but struggled to handle the cases amid mass staff exoduses.

Federal prosecutors eventually indicted both men in 2022 to assist city prosecutors. Green pleaded guilty in February to murder for hire and conspiracy to commit murder for hire.

His attorneys said Tuesday he has great remorse and wanted to spare Peters’ family from the pain of a trial. He also hopes to use his master’s degree in education and other skills to help other inmates and atone for his actions.

Cutler, however, took his case to a jury and he was convicted on both counts and sentenced last week to two consecutive terms of life in prison.

Meanwhile, Peters’ family has continued grieving. Her cousin, Dedra Peters, said she still experiences depression and anxiety. The pain, sadness and anger still haven’t abated.

“It’s hard getting out of bed each day,” she said.

Jocelyn Peters’ mother, Lacey Peters, said she missed the woman she raised and admired so much. And she misses the grandchild she never got to meet.

“She loved that baby so much,” she said.