A case involving a Lexington woman charged with shooting and killing her neighbor was sent Thursday to a Fayette County grand jury.
Latarra Nicole Martin, a local hip-hop artist and the mother of three small children, is charged with murder in the March 11 shooting death of Jeffrey Wilburn. He lived across the hall from Martin and was the maintenance supervisor for the building at Lakeshore Apartments, 209 Lakeshore Drive.
After a preliminary hearing, Judge Megan Lake Thornton found probable cause to send the case to a grand jury.
The hearing wasn't held until Thursday because the defense had waited for a report on whether Martin, 25, was competent to stand trial. That report from the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center in La Grange said that Martin is competent to stand trial, although defense attorney Kate Dunn noted that the report did not address whether Martin was competent at the time of the shooting.
Just before the shooting, Wilburn and three others were eating lunch in his apartment, Lexington police Detective Todd Iddings testified. Martin knocked on the door and asked Wilburn to look at a plumbing problem in her apartment across the hall.
Witnesses then heard gunshots, although no one saw the shooting, Iddings said. Wilburn stumbled back into his apartment, saying he'd been shot, and Martin followed him, aiming a revolver at his guests and trying to shoot them. One bullet passed through Wilburn's body and struck a wall, and four other bullets were recovered in his apartment, Iddings said.
Martin later told police "she had shot Mr. Wilburn," Iddings said.
Her other statements to police were unclear. For example, Iddings testified that Martin had said Wilburn "had infected her with dirty water." That statement could not be clarified, Iddings said.
Martin also said "they had been stealing her music," but Iddings could not get clarification on that either.
"She seemed to be confused," Iddings said.
After executing a search warrant, police found two handguns in Martin's apartment. One was a Taurus .357 — which police believe to be the weapon used to shoot Wilburn — and a Ruger P90.
Martin remains in the Fayette County jail with no bond. Dunn asked the judge to set bond, but Thornton declined, saying, "I'll leave it alone for now."
