Lexington men no longer face murder charges in death of former Tates Creek student
Three Lexington men are no longer facing murder charges in the death of a college student after a grand jury declined to indict two of them and prosecutors dropped the charge for the third.
Antwone Davenport, Tayte Patton and Antonio Turner had all been charged with Mykel Waide’s death. Waide, who was 18 when he was shot and killed in August 2020, was set to start school at the University of Louisville the same week he died. He was also a former basketball player at Tates Creek High School.
“A grand jury dismissal is without prejudice, meaning if new and or additional evidence is found the charges may be resubmitted to the grand jury for indictment,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn said. “Our office considers this to be an open case and those responsible for killing Mykel Waide will be held accountable.”
Patton’s attorney, Daniel Whitley, previously maintained Patton’s innocence in court records. He told the Herald-Leader he was “grateful the grand jury listened to the evidence and didn’t think it was sufficient.”
But Whitley also added “this young man’s forever going to be tagged for being connected to a murder that got dismissed.”
A grand jury on Dec. 20 declined to indict Patton, 22, and Turner, 19, according to court records. Davenport, 33, had his murder charge dismissed by the Fayette County Attorney’s office earlier this month.
Patton and Turner were arrested and charged with murder in the case more than one year after the shooting happened. A witness told police during the investigation they observed Patton and Turner shooting out of the back of a vehicle into a crowd of people at the Residence Inn on Newtown Court, according to testimony from a Lexington detective.
Whitley previously said in court records that Patton wasn’t able to prove his innocence in part because prosecutors had been permitted to hide the identity of the eyewitness who placed Patton and Turner at the scene. A Fayette District Court judge ruled that revealing the witnesses’ identity could unnecessarily endanger that person.
“We do recognize there are times where, once you’re identified, people may come and make you a target to commit violence against you,” Whitley said. “So that makes people not want to come forward.”
But Whitley added that he had concerns over the witness’ credibility because the individual was a rival gang member, according to police testimony in a prior court hearing.
Davenport, 33, was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Illinois, according to police. He was charged with murder after an eyewitness told police they saw Davenport in a vehicle at the parking lot of the hotel, according to court records. Davenport had been accused of getting out of the vehicle and shooting at a crowd of people.
Four people were shot during the altercation, but only Waide was killed, according to court records.
This story was originally published December 27, 2021 at 12:50 PM.