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![Kevin Cutts testifies during the trial of Ryan Harris. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Okeechobee News]](https://eta.creativecirclecdn.com/scfl/original/20260428-171544-ab8-Cutts%201996.jpg)
OKEECHOBEE- Kevin Cutts was found guilty of killing 18-year-old Elizabeth Hatfield in Okeechobee back in 1995. Now, over 30 years later, he’s asking for a sentence modification on that conviction, arguing that he has been rehabilitated and is fit to reenter society.
Cutts was 17 years old when he entered Ms. Hatfield’s 60-foot mobile home on March 15, 1995, and shot the woman as she slept in her bed. Sleeping beside the woman was her 8-month-old daughter, who was not injured.
Cutts was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated burglary with a battery. In exchange for his testimony against co-defendant Ryan Harris, the death penalty was taken off the table.
Ryan Harris was Elizabeth’s ex-boyfriend and the father of her baby. The two had gone through a tumultuous separation in late 1994 and early 1995. Elizabeth asked for a temporary order of protection against Harris, alleging he had hit her following their break-up in January of 1995. A month after asking for that order of protection, Ryan allegedly forced his way into Elizabeth’s trailer and ripped the cords out of the phone when she attempted to call police.
Elizabeth was able to force him out of the trailer and call police. Ryan was arrested on three warrants, for violation of the protection order, trespassing and battery.
A few weeks after that incident, Elizabeth was found dead in her trailer next to her baby.
![Ryan Harris looks back during his trial. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Okeechobee News]](https://eta.creativecirclecdn.com/scfl/original/20260428-171630-8cb-Harris%201996.jpg)
Cutts was friends with Harris. The two had similar interests in computers and online bulletin boards. During his testimony in Ryan’s trial, Cutts said that he was misled by Harris and programmed to kill Elizabeth.
“Ryan wanted her dead,” Cutts told the courtroom. “Ryan said she was abusing the baby and using drugs around the baby. I found out later that those were lies. I murdered an innocent young woman because of that.”
During the trial, it was revealed that Harris had driven Cutts to Elizabeth’s trailer, handed him a gun and told him to just do it. Cutts entered the woman’s mobile home in Four Seasons and shot her multiple times in the head and face with a 9mm Ruger handgun. That handgun was later found in Harris’s home.
Harris was found guilty of second-degree murder. But that was lowered to manslaughter on appeal. He was then sentenced to seven years in prison.
He served that time and was released but was arrested and convicted for having sexual relations with a 16-year-old boy in Tallahassee. He was sentenced to one year and one day in prison on that conviction.
Cutts has remained in prison since he was found guilty of murdering Elizabeth Hatfield. But now, Cutts is seeking release based on a finding of rehabilitation, with his lawyer arguing that he has been rehabilitated and is fit to reenter society under Florida Statutes 921.1402 and Rule 3.802.
Cutts was granted a judicial sentence review on September 26, 2023, and the matter has been pending since. An evidentiary hearing is now scheduled for May 21 and May 22 in Okeechobee.
