The Lexington Police Department has captured the suspect in a seven-month-old homicide; better late than never!

Lexington murder suspect arrested 7 months after deadly shooting, records show

by Christopher Leach | Tuesday, June 21, 2022 | 7:12 AM EDT | Updated: 1:04 PM EDT

Robert Okorley. Photo from Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

A Lexington murder suspect was arrested Monday evening in connection to a 2021 killing on Main Street, according to court documents.

Robert Okorley, 40, is facing charges of murder, attempted murder, second degree assault, criminal mischief and possessing a handgun as a convicted felon, according to his arrest citation. He’s accused of killing Jesse Jimenez, 32, and shooting another on Nov. 5, 2021.

He’s being held at the Fayette County Detention Center on an $885,000 bond, according to court records.

Lexington police said they initially responded to a call of shots fired in the area around Main Street and Oliver Lewis Way early in the morning, but they didn’t find anything unusual. Not long after, a man showed up at the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital suffering from a gunshot wound, Lexington police Lt. Chris Van Brackel said at the time.

When police learned that the victim man was in the 700 block of West Main Street when he was injured, they went back to investigate further and found the man later identified as Jimenez dead in an apartment on the upper level of the building. The building is occupied on the lower level by a web design and marketing agency.

According to the report, Mr Okorley got into a fight with a third person, and after the fight was over, he pulled a gun and attempted to shoot the man, but hitting Mr Jimenez instead. After that, a fourth man ran out of the building and jumped into the bed of a moving pickup truck. Mr Okorley then fired at the departing vehicle, wounding the driver in the arm. If Mr Okorley is indeed the perpetrator, he’s apparently not a very nice person.

Video footage captured the entire incident and clearly identified Okorley as the suspect, court documents say. Okorley was also identified as the suspect by an eyewitness.

Well, if they’ve got the whole thing on tape, and it clearly identifies Mr Okorley as the perpetrator, Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn will probably agree to a plea bargain down to manslaughter that lets him out in ten years, because that’s the kind of thing she does.

According to the Fayette County Detention Center’s records, Mr Okorley is facing charges of murder, assault in the 2nd degree, criminal mischief in the first degree, and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. I am shocked, of course, that Mr Okorley (allegedly) violated state gun control laws.

Murder in Lexington, Kentucky, is a far, far different thing than in Philadelphia, to which I’ve paid a lot more attention, but Lexington is the closest real city to where I live since I’ve retired. Lexington doesn’t have more than a murder a day, but has seen ‘only’ 22 so far this year, while the City of Brotherly Love has 227 as of 11:59 PM EDT on Monday, June 13^th. In 2021, Lexington’s record 37 homicides, and a guesstimated population of 324,600, yields a murder rate of 11.40 per 100,000 population. Philadelphia’s 562 killings, and population estimated at 1,576,251, yields a homicide rate of 35.65 per 100,000 population, more than thrice Lexington’s.

Nevertheless, 22 homicides by June 14^th is significant, because the city didn’t see its 22^nd killing until July 20^th last year. The statistics become less telling, and the math more uncertain when the city is seeing ‘just’ 22 murders in 165 days, but the city is on pace to see 48 murders this year. I would not, however, bet more than €10 on that number, and I think, or at least hope, that my estimate will be on the high side.

‘Money talks.’ Why Lexington investigators are offering more cash for tips on homicide cases

by Taylor Six | Monday, June 13, 2022 | 1:18 PM EDT

Bluegrass Crime Stoppers is using its “healthy budget” to offer more money for people who provide tips that lead to arrests in homicide investigations, officials announced Monday.

In a press conference, representatives with Bluegrass Crime Stoppers and Lexington police said they are increasing tip rewards to $2,500 for information which leads to the arrest and closure of a homicide case. The rewards apply to 2022 homicides and the initiative will carry on for the next three months.

Last year Crime Stoppers solved eight homicides with tips that came in through their anonymous hotline, according to Katina May, director of Bluegrass Crime Stoppers. Lexington police have nine open homicide investigations for 2022, according to police data. . . . .

“People are scared, we get that. People are scared to come forward. When they have seen something or know something, all of that information is pieces to the puzzles,” (Lexington police detective Anthony) Delimpo said. “We are trying to give more of an incentive for people to come forward.”

There’s more at the original.

Still, there’s something sad about this: a good citizen who has information about a homicide or a shooting ought to provide the information freely, on his own, especially when the city has an anonymous tip line he can use. But if that can getr more bad guys off the streets, it’s worth it.

Just last Thursday we learned that Xavier Hardin, who murdered, oops, sorry, manslaughtered Kenneth Bottoms, Jr, in Fayette Mall would get out in 20 years, maximum^[1]His sentence was 22 years, but he has credit for 619 days already served., when he would still be just 41 years old, because Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn negotiated a plea deal, even though the murder was caught on security cameras. If Miss Red Corn thought she couldn’t win that kind of case at trial, she shouldn’t be a prosecutor.

When Mr Harden gets out of prison, Mr Bottoms will still be stone-cold graveyard dead.

Now we learn that Tonisha Hendrickson, who murdered, oops, sorry, manslaughtered a man, was sentenced to only ten years: Continue reading →

On March 12^th, we reported that Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn had ‘negotiated’ another lenient plea bargain arrangement for a murderer.

Xavier Hardin, mugshot from Fayette County Detention Center, dated June 15, 2021, and is a public record.

Lexington man who committed deadly Fayette Mall shooting reaches plea deal. Here’s why

by Jeremy Chisenhall | Friday, March 11, 2022 | 12:19 PM EST | Updated: 1:06 PM EST

The man who shot and killed a 17 year old inside Fayette Mall in 2020 has reached an agreement with prosecutors to accept a conviction for manslaughter instead of murder, according to court records.

Xavier Hardin, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault and wanton endangerment charges in the killing of Kenneth Bottoms Jr., after reaching a plea agreement earlier this week, according to court records. Hardin, who was 19 at the time of the incident, also injured two bystanders when he fired shots inside the mall on Aug. 23, 2020.

Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn said Hardin’s plea agreement was reached through mediation and Bottoms’ family was in agreement with the plea deal. The plea agreement accounted “for the facts of the case,” Red Corn said, which included that “both the defendant and Kenneth were carrying handguns that day at the mall.”

“There were video recordings of their encounter, and the defendant raised a claim of self-protection,” Red Corn said. “Regardless of the defendant’s claim, he injured innocent persons and put others in harm’s way when (he) started shooting. This is another tragic example of why teens should not be carrying guns in the first place.”

There’s more at the original here. Naturally, what my late best friend used to call the Lexington Herald-Liberal didn’t publish Mr Hardin’s photo, due to the stupid McClatchy mugshot policy, but The First Street Journal is not bound by that! Continue reading →

We noted, just last week, on April 2^nd, that Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn had a history of giving accused murderers the opportunity to plead guilty to manslaughter instead, and get reduced sentences. Well, here she goes again!

Suspects accused of killing 2 men in a Lexington gang retaliation take plea deals

by Jeremy Chisenhall | Wednesday, April 6, 2022 | 6:00 AM EDT



John George Boulder IV, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record. Click to enlarge.

Four men have pleaded guilty to reduced charges for their involvement in a deadly daylight shooting that Lexington prosecutors say was a gang retaliation.

A Lexington gang planned to retaliate against two 18-year-olds because members of the group believed those two made “disparaging remarks” about a dead gang member, according to court records. Dwayne Slaughter and Darrian Webb, both 18 years old, died in the shooting on Oct. 19, 2019. All four suspects entered guilty pleas in Fayette Circuit Court Friday.

Three of the men who pleaded guilty in the deadly shooting are among the 14 people who have been indicted in a related organized crime case, according to court records. The fourth suspect hasn’t been criminally connected to the gang but was accused by a witness of being part of the same group.

The shooting happened on Oct. 19, 2019, at the intersection of Winchester Road and Seventh Street. De’Shaun Quantrell Armor, Sevion Mitchell and Kenneth Jakobe Jackson were in a vehicle driven by John George Boulder IV when they pulled up behind a vehicle with the two victims inside, according to court records.

Armor, Mitchell and Jackson were all armed, according to court records. The suspects opened fire and dozens of shots rang out in the middle of the intersection, leaving Slaughter and Webb dead, according to court records. A third person in the victims’ vehicle was injured but didn’t die.

There’s much more at the linked original; the mugshots were not included in the Lexington Herald-Leader original, but looked up and added by The First Street Journal. Mr Armor’s mugshot was not available.

These are some bad dudes! The Fayette County Detention Center had not one but six mugshots of Mr Boulder, from six separate arrests, the first dated September 9, 2017, not quite four months after his 18^th birthday.

Messrs Armor, Mitchell and Jackson were each charged with two counts of murder when they were first indicted, while Mr Boulder, who was not armed at the time of the killings, was charged with facilitating murder. Following ‘mediation’ to work out a plea deal, Mr Armor pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter as well as to charges of evidence tampering and evading police; other charges were dismissed. Prosecutors recommended that he be sentenced to seven years in prison for each manslaughter count and one year for each of his tampering and evading convictions. No recommendation was made as to whether the sentences should run consecutively or concurrently.

Mr Armor pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, as well as one count each of tampering with evidence and evading capture. Prosecutors recommended seven years in prison for each manslaughter count and one year for each of his tampering and evading convictions.

Messrs Mitchell and Jackson, who were juveniles, 17, when the killings occurred, each pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter, with other charges against them dismissed, and the prosecution recommended that both be sentenced to seven years for each of their manslaughter convictions; again, no recommendation was made concerning whether the sentences run consecutively or concurrently. Depending upon how Fayette Circuit Judge Thomas L. Travis sets their sentences on June 15^th — he does not have to accept the prosecutors’ recommended sentences –these thugs could be out of jail while still in their twenties, still in their prime crime-committing years.

According to reporter Jeremy Chisenhall’s story, the shooting in the middle of an intersection, at busy Winchester Road and Seventh Street, by a Speedway gasoline station and mini-mart, left 37 shell casings recovered by investigators; these guys were firing and endangering more than just the two 18-year-old rival gang members, but bullets could have struck innocent bystanders as well.

Was the evidence against these gentlemen on the shaky side? Did Miss Red Corn fear that the state might lose if it went to trial? Why ‘mediate’ lenient sentences?

Under KRS §507.020, murder is a capital offense in Kentucky. Under KRS §532.030, the punishment for a capital offense shall be:

• death; or
• imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole; or
• imprisonment for life without benefit of probation or parole until he has served a minimum of twenty-five (25) years of his sentence; or
• imprisonment for not less than twenty (20) years nor more than fifty (50) years.

Miss Red Corn could have gotten these very bad guys off the streets for a long, long time. She could have gotten them locked up until they were at least middle-aged, possibly until they were elderly, or even gotten them locked up until they die. She could have done her duty to the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky!

Instead, she followed her recent pattern, of taking the easy way out, by allowing negotiations which could have these criminals out early.

On January 10, 2022, James Edward Ragland II, 31, was sentenced to ten years in the state penitentiary for shooting and killing Iesha Edwards, 27, outside what Lexington Herald-Leader euphemistically called a “gentleman’s club.” Originally charged with murder, Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn allowed Mr Edwards to plead down to manslaughter.

On January 19, 2022, Malachi Jackson, now 20 but 16 at the time of his crime, charged with the murder of 15-year-old Kevin Olmeda, was allowed by Miss Red Corn to plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, and first-degree criminal attempt to commit robbery. With a recommended sentence of 15 years by the prosecution, time already served taken into account, and the state minimum of 85% of sentence required, Mr Jackson could be out of jail by the age of 31.

On February 11, 2022, Jemel Barber, 23, was sentenced to twenty years for the killing of 40-year-old Tyrece Clark. Mr Barber was allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter and second-degree robbery, down from murder, by Miss Red Corn, and if he serves his full sentence, including time already served, he could be out by age 39.

On March 11, 2022, Xavier Hardin, 21, was allowed by Miss Red Corn to plead guilty to manslaughter, assault and wanton endangerment charges in the killing of Kenneth Bottoms Jr., 17, and charges of murder were dropped. The shooting was caught on security tape in Fayette Mall.

And here she goes again!

Lexington man gets 10 years in prison after pleading guilty in a deadly shooting

by Christopher leach | Friday, April 1, 2022 | 10:23 AM EDT

The man who shot and killed a 44-year-old man in March 2020 was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday.



Seantel Watson, via WKYT-TV.

Seantel Watson, 34, was originally charged with murder for shooting and killing Larry Steven Rose Jr. but was convicted of a lesser charge. Watson turned himself in one week after the deadly shooting. The charge was amended down to manslaughter when Watson accepted a guilty plea deal on Feb. 14, nearly two years after the shooting. The shooting took place on Smith Street near Transylvania University on March 6, 2020.

A call of shots fired came in shortly after 3 p.m. and Rose was pronounced dead just over 30 minutes later.

Prosecutors recommended he be sentenced to ten years, which Judge Thomas Travis accepted. The murderer manslaughterer received credit for the slightly more than two years he has already spent behind bars. Mr Watson, 34, if released after serving the state minimum of 85% of his sentence, could get out when he’s just 40 years old. His victim will still be dead.

I have to ask: at what point does the Commonwealth’s Attorney start prosecuting murderers for murder? At what point does Miss Red Corn stop treating killers leniently?

Oh, wait, I already know: Miss Red Corn will prosecute Bemjamin William Call to the full extent of the law, because he is accused of beating John Abner Tyler to death in a Lexington parking garage. The Herald-Leader ran four separate, sympathetic stories about the victim. Mr Abner was not another black male with a shady past, or a black dancer at a strip club, but a white man ‘married’ to another white man.

In Lexington, the sentence for killing someone depends on whom was killed.