Suspect in Lexington slaying had been released from prison on shock probation

A 21-year-old man was out of prison early on shock probation when he allegedly shot a man to death at Lexington's Augusta Arms apartments, according to court records.

Jevon Donnell Magee is charged with shooting Joseph Ramone Parker on Dec. 18. Parker died later that day, and Lexington police issued a murder warrant for Magee the next day.

Lexington police arrested Magee on Thursday night with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service. On Friday, he pleaded not guilty to the murder charge in Fayette District Court.

Magee has a history of problems since he was 15, and he was free after petitioning the court for shock probation, which was granted in July 2014, Fayette Circuit Court records show.

Magee had been sentenced to five years in prison after he pleaded guilty in April 2012 to charges of possessing a handgun while being a convicted felon and filing a false police report.

Magee was a felon because at age 15 in 2009, he was convicted as an adult of second-degree robbery, according to circuit court records. Magee was tried as an adult in that case in part because it was a felony involving the use of a gun, documents show.

Magee was still on probation when Joseph Parker was shot. Police found Parker lying on the sidewalk in front of a building after residents reported hearing several gunshots. Parker died of multiple wounds at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital.

A witness reported seeing Parker in a physical altercation with another man, who shot at Parker from "point-blank range," according to Magee's arrest citation filed in court. The witness later identified Magee as the shooter in a photo lineup, the citation states.

The witness also described seeing Magee leave the Augusta Arms afterward with his sister, who lived at the complex, according to the citation.

Magee is next scheduled to appear in court April 29. He was being held in the Fayette County jail without bail.

This story was originally published April 24, 2015 at 12:46 PM with the headline "Suspect in Lexington slaying had been released from prison on shock probation."