We have made much about the McClatchy mugshot policy, and the uneven application of it by the Lexington Herald-Leader. The McClatchy policy became known in August of 2020, which was well after this story from the Lexington newspaper:
3 gunshot victims. 2 robberies. 1 dead. Lexington detective describes violent night
By Morgan Eads | January 9, 2020 | 1:40 PM EST | Updated: January 10, 2020 | 9:01 AM EST
The case against a man facing multiple charges in shootings that killed one person and injured two others in Lexington was sent Thursday to a Fayette County grand jury after a detective testified about details of the investigation.
Jo’Qwan Anthony Edwards Jackson. Fayette County Detention Center. Click to enlarge.
Jo’Qwan Anthony Edwards Jackson, 19, is charged with murder in the Dec. 10 death of 23-year-old Damontrial D. Fulgham, according to police and court records. Jackson is also charged with first-degree robbery, first-degree assault, evidence tampering and receiving stolen property in connection with the Osage Court shooting that killed Fulgham, according to court records.
John George Boulder IV Fayette County Detention Center. Click to enlarge.
Also on Thursday, Lexington police announced that a third person was charged in the case. John George Boulder IV, 20, was charged with murder, first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and tampering with evidence, according to police. A juvenile is also facing charges in the case, but their name has not been released because of their age.Boulder was already being held in the Fayette County jail on unrelated charges, according to police.
At least it seems as though the Herald-Leader was publishing mugshots of arrestees prior to the issuance of the McClatchy policy. But that was then, and this is now:
Police: Teenager charged with murder, assault in separate Lexington shootings
By Jeremy Chisenhall | June 1, 2021 | 12:15 PM EDT
A Lexington 18-year-old has been arrested and charged with murder in a 2019 homicide case that now has four defendants, according to Lexington police.
Andre Tennial Hilliard, 18, was charged with murder in the death of Damontrial Daquan Fulgham, 23. Fulgham was killed on Dec. 10, 2019, during a shooting on Osage Court, according to police and jail records. Hilliard is one of four charged with murder in the homicide, according to court records. The others are John Boulder IV, Jo’Qwan Jackson and Javari Butler.
Hilliard was also charged with assault, two counts of robbery, evidence tampering and being a minor in possession of a handgun, according to jail records.
Some of the charges stemmed from a separate shooting in 2019 in the 900 block of Red Mile Road, police said. Hilliard is accused of shooting a 17-year-old the night before the homicide, causing the teenager to suffer a non-life-threatening injury.
So, not a good guy, it would seem. But, in keeping with the McClatchy policy, the Herald-Leader did not publish his mugshot, despite having published several recently, all of white criminal suspects. A Google search failed to turn up a mugshot of Mr Hilliard, though there is a good chance that one of the local television stations will do so later today. I’m betting that when the mugshot does turn up in public, we will see that Mr Hilliard is black. After all, his (alleged) fellow suspects are black, and the victim, Damontrial Daquan Fulgham, was also black. However, Mr Hilliard was a juvenile, 17 years old, at the time of the offense. The Herald-Leader article does not say whether Mr Hilliard was charged as an adult.
Andre Tennial Hilliard, Fayette County Detention Center.
Update! 10: 01 PM EDT
As I had guessed, Mr Hilliard’s mugshot was released; I saw the mugshot on the 5:30 PM EDT news on Channel 18, WLEX-TV, and this one was copied from WKYT-TV, Channel 27. To no one’s surprise, Mr Hilliard appears to be black. A quick return to the Herald-Leader’s original shows that Mr Hilliard’s mugshot was not added to their story.
At least thus far, the newspaper has adhered to McClatchy Company policy. But you can bet your last can of Mountain Dew that I will be checking the newspaper, every day, to see if the next person arrested for some crime big enough to warrant a story has his mugshot published.