We noted, on April 6^th, that John George Boulder IV, De’Shaun Quantrell Armor, Sevion Mitchell and Kenneth Jakobe Jackson, who murdered two 18-year-olds, Dwayne Slaughter and Darrian Webb because Messrs Slaughter and Webb allegedly made “disparaging remarks” about a dead member of Messrs Boulder’s, Mitchell’s and Jackson’s drug gang.

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 at The First Street Journal, we look up the information and publish it.

Sevion Mitchell, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record. Click to enlarge.

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. Mr Armor had two previous mug shots shown.

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.

De’Shaun Quantrell Armor, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record.

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.

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.

Well, now these four fine gentlemen have been sentenced, though two months later than their originally reported sentencing date.

4 men sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to shooting that left 18-year-olds dead

by Taylor Six | Thursday, August 25, 2022 | 3:50 PM EDT

Kenneth Jackson, photo by Fayette County Detention Center, and is a public record. Click to enlarge.

Armor was sentenced to 14 years after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter, with the other charges of assault, criminal mischief, tampering with physical evidence and wanton endangerment being dismissed. He was sentenced to seven years for each manslaughter charge and his sentences will run consecutively. He was credited for more than two and a half years of time already served.Jackson was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced for seven years on one conviction, and five years on the other conviction, which also carries a concurrent sentence of two years.

Jackson entered an “Alford Plea,” meaning he doesn’t admit guilt, but agrees there is enough evidence that a jury could find him guilty. The remaining charges he faced were dismissed. Jackson was credited for just over two years of time already served Armor and Jackson were originally charged with two counts of murder, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief, tampering with physical evidence, and first-degree wanton endangerment.

Mitchell was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years on each conviction, and his sentences were set to run consecutively. He was credited for more than two and a half years of time already spent in jail.

At least the sentences were mostly set to run consecutively, but these fine gentlemen, three of whom were members of a drug gang, will all complete their sentences while in their early thirties, easily still young enough to return back to a life of violent crime, this time with some serious prison cred, and the only thing better than street cred is prison cred. Messrs Slaughter and Webb will still be stone-cold graveyard dead.

The Lexington Herald-Leader previously reported that Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn has been using “mediation” to reduce case backlogs. Now the newspsper is reporting that this is upsetting a lot of victims’ families:

Mediation leads to more plea deals in Lexington felonies. Victims’ families are concerned

by Taylor Six | Friday, August 26, 2022 | 6:50 AM EDT

When James Terry was fatally shot inside a Lexington bar in 2019, his family was left with grief and the hope that the man who shot him would face justice in the Kentucky courts system.

But after more than three years of court dates, the conclusion of the case did not bring Terry’s family a sense of justice. Larry Walters, 73, admitted that he opened fire in the bar and killed Terry. But after originally being charged with murder, he accepted a plea deal from prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, giving him less time in prison and making him eligible for parole more quickly.

Terry’s family said in court that they wanted a harsher punishment, and they took issue with the Fayette Commonwealth Attorney’s office giving Walters a chance to plead to lesser charges.

Other victims’ families have expressed similar frustrations as they’ve watched someone responsible for killing a loved one accept a reduced conviction, or get acquitted altogether in a jury trial.

And as Lexington has begun taking part in felony mediation, a court process which brings prosecutors together with defense teams to negotiate more plea deals, some victims’ families have grown more frustrated.

A handful of Terry’s family members gave testimony in court during the sentencing of Walters, saying they were unhappy with Walters’ reduced prison time.

Walters, who’s now 73, faced a life sentence when he was originally charged. However, his sentence was reduced to 20 years when he agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter. Walters will be eligible for parole after serving 20% of his sentence, according to state law. Because he has been credited for time served while waiting for his case to be resolved, he will be eligible for parole next year.

There’s a lot more at the original.

I’m not that annoyed that a 73-year-old man might get out of prison when he’s 74; he’s probably beyond his crime-committing years, where Messrs Boulder, Armor, Mitchell and Jackson will still be young men. I am upset that Kentucky state law allows parole as early as having served 20% of one’s sentence. Remember Cody Allen Arnett, whom we have previously mentioned. Mr Arnett was convicted for two robberies in Lexington, on August 7, 2015, and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. As early as June 26, 2018 he was recommended for parole, and was scheduled to be released on August 1, 2018. This would mean that he served a week less than three years for his fifteen year sentence. Within 76 days of his release, Mr Arnett was arrested for the forcible rape at knifepoint of a Georgetown College coed, at a time in which he could have and should have still been in prison. Mr Arnett had five violent felony offenses on his record. Mr Arnett was only able to rape his victim because the Parole Board let him out early.

We are letting bad guys, bad guys who have been caught and convicted and sent to prison, out too early! Just 20% of sentence served before eligibility for parole, for manslaughter? A lot of the fault for this is on state Parole Boards, but the Parole Boards are only able to make such mistakes because the state legislature has allowed them to do so. Did releasing Mr Arnett really relieve prison overcrowding? Yeah, it did . . . for 76 whole days. And now he’s going to be taking up cell space for twenty more years, and a young woman has to go through the rest of her life remembering being raped at knifepoint, to empty that cell for those 76 days. All of normal society loses because a clear and present danger was turned loose early.

Even Mr Arnett is the loser in all of this. He could have served his entire previous sentence, not raped his victim, and be out much earlier than his earliest possible parole date now. Mr Boulder, now staring at seven years in prison, if he had just been kept locked up on some of his five previous arrests, would not have been part of the murder of Messrs Slaughter and Webb, and might be getting out sooner. Mr Armor is looking at 14 years behind bars, but if he had been in jail for the two previous arrests, both of which were barely a year prior to the murders, he wouldn’t have been part of the crew that killed the two 18-year-olds over their “disparaging remarks.”

We aren’t doing anyone any favors by letting these guys off leniently! The state legislature needs to tighten up parole laws, the Parole Board needs to tighten up on letting bad guys loose early, and prosecutors need to pursue maximum charges.