Sherry Guyton interview

Sunday, July 16, 2023 – 3:45 p.m.

Sherry Guyton is a senior at Yoknapatawpha High School and a former member of the cheer squad.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy interviewed her at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Sherry Guyton

Detective Armstrong: Will you please state your name and address for the record?

Sherry Guyton: I'm Sherry Guyton, and I live at 211 Lincoln in Oxford.

Detective Murphy: Do you know why you're here, Miss Guyton?

Sherry Guyton: Of course. Do you think I'm stupid? It's about Katy. And for God's sake, call me Sherry. Oh, by the way, is it okay if I smoke in here?

Detective Murphy: It's against the law to smoke in this building.

Sherry Guyton: Okay, fine.

Detective Armstrong: How did you hear about Katy's death?

Sherry Guyton: How did I not hear about it would be a shorter answer. Anybody who knew her is totally blown away. People from school have been calling and texting nonstop since yesterday.

Detective Murphy: What about you? Are you blown away?

Sherry Guyton: Sure! What do you think? I don't have feelings?

Detective Armstrong: Well, we did hear you and Katy had differences.

Sherry Guyton: Well, that's for dang sure. She could be a bossy little… well, she could be bossy, but she was just a regular girl like me, and now she's dead. That's like … whoa.

Detective Murphy: How was Katy bossy?

Sherry Guyton: Well, she nagged the crud out of me about smoking. It got old after a while, you know. It's my business if I want to louse up my lungs. We all gotta die of something, right? But she wouldn't lay off. I told her to butt out, but Little Miss Perfect wouldn't leave me alone.

Detective Murphy: That's it? She wanted you to stop smoking?

Sherry Guyton: No. There was also my ankle injury. If she had been where she was supposed to be in that routine, I wouldn't have gone down and broken my ankle. It's her fault I can't cheer anymore. I was hoping for a cheerleading scholarship to help me through college. Now that's blown.

Detective Murphy: Won't your father put you through college?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah, I guess, but I kinda wanted to do it myself.

Detective Armstrong: If you and Katy weren't friends, then what was the 10-minute phone call you made to her on Friday?

Sherry Guyton: Phone call? Oh yeah. It was about a chemistry assignment we had. We are— were— whatever. We had this advanced chemistry class together, and Katy was really good at it. I called her because I was stuck on the homework assignment.

Detective Armstrong: You called her on a Friday night to talk about homework?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah. If you get it done on Friday, you're free the rest of the weekend.

Detective Armstrong: Did Katy agree with that philosophy?

Sherry Guyton: I don't know, but she was nice enough to help me with the chemistry homework. Didn't give me any crap about smoking either, for once.

Detective Armstrong: Why not?

Sherry Guyton: We kind of shared this thing about hating to be dismissed as "ditzy cheerleader" types. I guess we were both trying to prove we have brains, too, so we helped each other out when we could.

Detective Murphy: I see you smoke Marlboros. Is that your preferred brand?

Sherry Guyton: That's my mother's favorite brand. I usually filch whatever she is smoking. Like I tried to tell Katy, it's not like I smoke three packs a day or something.

Detective Armstrong: You must've been pretty upset at Katy about your ankle.

Sherry Guyton: Remember, detective, I'm not a ditz, so to answer your unspoken question: no, I wasn't angry enough to kill her. I want to be a doctor and save people's lives, so I sure as heck wouldn't kill someone over a stupid accident, even if it was her fault.

Detective Armstrong: Since you're not a ditz, as you've said, you must also realize that we need to know where you were yesterday morning.

Sherry Guyton: I was at home.

Detective Armstrong: All morning?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah.

Detective Armstrong: Was anyone else there?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah, my family.

Detective Murphy: Do you know of anyone else who might've been angry enough to kill Katy?

Sherry Guyton: Not really. Oh, she could be a real pain in the butt about some things, but she didn't piss people off enough for someone to kill her.

Detective Murphy: But someone did kill her, Sherry.

Sherry Guyton: Well … yeah.

Detective Murphy: You know all of Katy's friends, right?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah.

Detective Murphy: Tell us about them.

Sherry Guyton: Like who? She was friends with half the school.

Detective Murphy: How about Jennifer Adams?

Sherry Guyton: Ha! I thought you wanted to know about Katy's friends.

Detective Murphy: Katy and Jennifer weren't friends?

Sherry Guyton: No. Jennifer's about Jennifer. The rest of us are just, like, backup dancers to her. You know what I mean?

Detective Murphy: Do you think she could've killed Katy?

Sherry Guyton: Truth? She probably could if she was mad enough, but I doubt she was.

Detective Murphy: How do you know?

Sherry Guyton: I would've heard about it. Word travels fast, you know?

Detective Armstrong: What if Katy made her angry?

Sherry Guyton: She'd have to make her pretty mad.

Detective Armstrong: Like if Katy slapped her across the face?

Sherry Guyton: Did Katy do that?

Detective Armstrong: I thought you said word travels fast.

Sherry Guyton: I must've missed out on that one. That's hilarious! I wish I'd seen it. Why did Katy slap her?

Detective Armstrong: Why do you think?

Sherry Guyton: Oh, wait. Was this about Cody? I think I did hear about that. I just didn't know Katy slapped her too.

Detective Armstrong: Too?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah. I know she ripped Jen a— uh, ripped Jen for being a b***h to Cody, but I didn't know she slapped her too. I love it.

Detective Armstrong: Do you know what happened with Cody?

Sherry Guyton: Jennifer and some of the others were making fun of him. They probably thought it was no big deal, but they don't really get it.

Detective Armstrong: What do you mean?

Sherry Guyton: You know, like when you're in the group doing it, it just seems like giving someone a hard time as a joke, but when you're on the outside like I am now, it just looks … mean. So Jen probably deserved it, but if that made her mad enough to kill Katy, she would've done it right then, not waited until later. That's just how she is.

Detective Murphy: What about Katy's boyfriend? Did she have one?

Sherry Guyton: Yeah, Tim Howorth, but I don't think he would've done anything to Katy. He doesn't like confrontation.

Detective Murphy: Doesn't he play football?

Sherry Guyton: Well, yeah, but I'm talking about in regular life, not football.

Detective Armstrong: You seem pretty sure about who didn't do it. Can you think of anyone who might have?

Sherry Guyton: I have no idea. I mean, Katy was annoying, sure, but killing her? That's so … extra.

Detective Armstrong: If you think of anything or hear anything that might help us find Katy's killer, you let us know.

Sherry Guyton: Yeah, okay. I mean, I hope you're not counting on me to figure this out.

Detective Murphy: We're counting on everyone who knew Katy to tell us everything they know so we can find out who did this to her. Since this is an ongoing case, we may need to talk to you again, so be thinking about what else you know but haven't told us yet.

Sherry Guyton: I already told you everything!

Detective Murphy: I hope that's true. Thanks again for coming in, Sherry. We'll be in touch.

Interview ended – 4:12 p.m.