Cory Lakes, 25, of McKee, KY, was scheduled to appear before Judge Oscar Gayle House in Circuit Court on December 02, 2025 for a pretrial conference in Case #25-CR-00050. Lakes was indicted by a Grand jury on June 03, 2025 and charged with strangulation, 1st degree (domestic violence related), unlawful imprisonment, 1st degree and assault, 4th degree dating violence (minor injury). A jury trial has been scheduled for February 01, 2026.
Lakes was arrested on April 11, 2025, by McKee Police Chief Zack Bryant (Badge #303).
Chief Bryant reported in Uniform Citation #EY54657 that he was called to the Dollar General Store in McKee on the day of the arrest in reference to a female there advising she had been in a domestic violence situation and was held against her will.
The female told Chief Bryant that an argument with her boyfriend, Corey Lakes, had precipitated the event. She said she discovered on Lakes’ phone that he had been talking with other girls. She woke him up, and they began to argue. During the argument, she said she decided she was going to leave, so she began to gather her belongings. As she started walking toward the door to leave, she alleges that Lakes grabbed her and threw her down. She said he grabbed her by her ears and hit her in the head. She told Chief Bryant that as she was lying on the living room floor Lakes placed his hands around her neck and began “choking” her. She said she felt like she was going to “pass out” as a result of the choking. She said Lakes proceeded to grab a pillow and placed it over her head/face. She told Chief Bryant she felt like she was suffocating.
As a result of the fighting, she said her nose was bleeding. Lakes allegedly made her get undressed and get into the shower. She said the shower was cold and she felt like she was in there for around an hour. After the shower Lakes allegedly told her to get on the bed where he began to have intimate relations with her. She told Chief Bryant she didn’t want to but felt it was the only way she would make it out alive. Afterwards, Lakes told her to leave. That is when she went to the Dollar General store in McKee to call for help.
Chief Bryant responded to Lakes’ residence on McCammon Ridge Road to talk with him. Lakes came to the door wearing a thick coat, blue jeans, and no shoes. Chief Bryant explained that he had one side of a story and it made him look like a bad guy. He said he was there to get Lakes’ side of the story. Lakes admitted that he and his girlfriend had gotten into an argument and he had asked her to leave. After asking her to leave, he said she had got her stuff and left.
When asked if he had hit her or if she had hit him at any point, Lakes said that none of that happened. Lakes was asked if he had strangled his girlfriend, and he said he did not. Lakes gave Chief Bryant permission to look around the residence. Chief Bryant noted that water appeared to be poured on the floor of the living room and inside the bedroom there was fresh water inside the bathtub and on the side of the bathtub. There were two pillows on the couch in the living room and no blankets on the bed. There was a blanket on the couch that appeared to have come from the bedroom. When asked about the water in the tub, Lakes said that his girlfriend had taken a shower sometime during the night.
Chief Bryant reported in the citation that he placed Lakes under arrest due to the marks he observed on the alleged victim’s neck during his interview with her that were consistent with strangulation. In addition, there was other evidence in the residence that supported her version of the incident.
Lakes was transported to the Jackson County Detention Center, where he was booked and charged with assault, 4th-degree Dating Violence (minor injury), strangulation, 1st-degree (domestic violence related), and unlawful imprisonment, 1st-degree.
During a pretrial conference on September 02nd, a trial by jury was scheduled for February 01, 2026.
Lakes is being held in custody on a $50,000 cash bond while awaiting his next court appearance.
As in all cases at this stage of adjudication, the charges are allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent until provided due process and determined to be guilty by the court.
