Shot 7 to 9 times, man tells jurors how Lexington dispute became daylight gun battle
When more than a dozen shots were fired in broad daylight outside a South Broadway apartment complex, Lexington police worked to find out who fired first in the shooting that killed one and injured another.
Dylan Andrew Capps, 22, fired in self-defense, his attorney Rawl Kazee told jurors as his client’s trial began this week. Capps was charged with murder, assault and two counts of wanton endangerment in the May 22, 2017, exchange of gunfire.
Justin Lee Jenkins, 19, was killed in the shooting. Jenkins grew up in Louisville and had many family members in the courtroom.
Assistant prosecutor Dan Laren told jurors during opening arguments that it began with a verbal disagreement and devolved into a chaotic and deadly scene.
Laren told jurors that some witness testimony could by contradictory, and that they would have to determine what happened in the parking lot outside the Campus View Condominiums on South Broadway.
Evidence shows that there was an assault-style rifle and a .40 caliber handgun involved, Laren said. The rifle was fired once, and the round struck Capps’ vehicle. The handgun was fired 14 times in what Laren described as a “spray and pray” fashion.
Capps was the one who fired the handgun, Laren argued. One round from the handgun fatally struck Jenkins in the back.
Men involved recall argument, chaos
Jordan Wise, who lives in Frankfort, was injured in the shooting. His memories after being shot were spotty, he testified Tuesday. But doctors told him he was shot between seven and nine times.
Jenkins had ridden from Frankfort to Lexington with Wise and three others after they were told that a friend, Daniel Childress, had been “jumped” the night before, multiple witnesses testified. Among the others in the car were Ravon Woodhouse and Keegan Newton. Wise was driving.
Everything seemed to have stemmed from an argument Childress had with his roommate, witnesses testified.
Newton, now 22, told jurors that he brought his rifle, a .22 caliber, which he kept with him all the time because he wasn’t old enough to carry a handgun. The rifle was legally bought and registered to Newton.
Woodhouse said he also brought his handgun, a .380 Hi-Point. On the way to Lexington, the group had stopped at a Walmart to buy ammunition for the handgun.
Woodhouse, Newton and Childress testified that when Wise’s car arrived at the South Broadway apartment complex, Childress was sitting near the parking lot. Not long after they began talking with Childress, a tan SUV pulled up, they testified.
Wise said that there was already a large group of people arguing when he and the others pulled up. He also remembered being the last one to get out of their car.
While accounts differed as to whether the SUV was alone or accompanied by a silver passenger car, all of the men who were involved and testified said that Childress’ roommate and Capps got out of the SUV.
None of the men in Wise’s car carried their guns at first, but when they saw Capps’ handgun, Newton retrieved his rifle from the car, Newton testified.
After that, Childress’ roommate said that everyone should put away the guns, that they were just going to fight, Newton said. Newton told jurors that he put the rifle back in Wise’s car.
At some point a woman with a knife came at Wise, stabbing him in the hand, witnesses said. Wise told jurors that he didn’t see the person swinging the knife, but that he felt it go into his hand and then swung at the person holding it.
The moment that Wise hit the woman, gunfire erupted, Woodhouse said.
Wise said his vision went white after he hit the person with the knife, and he didn’t come to until he felt a “ticking” in his thigh and saw a gun that was “smoking.” He tried to run, but fell and army crawled to a nearby curb before passing out.
People scattered and Newton ran to get his rifle again, which he fired once at the SUV. The window of the SUV was rolled down as it was being driven away, and Newton said he fired because he feared someone was about to “finish the job” and kill him and Wise.
Newton tried to help Jenkins, and Woodhouse ran to a nearby tire shop where he tried to call 911. When Woodhouse saw police arriving, he figured the scene was safe and went back to help, he testified.
Kazee asked Wise if he and his friends have talked much about the shooting since 2017.
“I don’t really like to talk about getting shot seven times to be honest with you,” Wise said.
The moments after the shooting
Multiple people called 911 to report a loud argument leading up to the sound of gunfire. At least two people were on the phone with emergency services when the shooting began.
The calls, which were played for jurors, came from witnesses who heard or saw the shooting in the parking lot from their apartments in the area and from a nearby veterinary clinic. Some drivers on South Broadway reported the shooting they saw.
When Capps was pulled over by police in the minutes after the shooting, he was cooperative with officers and said that he’d been scared. He said he fired to get away with his companions, Kazee said Monday.
Body camera shows officers help victim
At the first day of the trial, prosecutors played body camera footage from one of the first responders to get to the scene, Lexington police Sgt. Larry Kinnard. The footage showed Jenkins laying on the ground and mostly unresponsive.
“Wake up, wake up buddy,” officers can be heard saying as they checked Jenkins for injuries. The officers can be seen in the footage working diligently to help Jenkins before paramedics arrived, but they had a difficult time finding the gunshot wound. The wound was on Jenkins’ lower back and initially appeared to be a less serious graze, Kinnard said.
Kinnard eventually felt what appeared to be a bulled lodged just under the skin of Jenkins’ abdomen.
Lexington firefighter Ryan Wilson testified that Jenkins was alert when he was being driven to the hospital, but he started having difficulty breathing and showing signs of internal bleeding.
As paramedics were wheeling Jenkins into the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital emergency room, Jenkins’ breathing and pulse stopped.
Jenkins’ mother, Stacie Jenkins, was the first to testify Monday. Her son was “so funny,” loved his family and loved football, she told jurors. He left behind five siblings. She told jurors she didn’t know what happened to her son until late that night, when family members saw something on social media and arrived at her workplace to tell her the news.
Jenkins had moved to Frankfort and had gotten a job not long before the shooting occurred, his mother said.
Because of the shot that was fired at the SUV, Newton was charged with wanton endangerment. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and faces a recommended 90-day jail sentence under the condition that he would testify in Capps’ trial. He told jurors he would have testified anyway.
“I’m up here to get justice for my brother,” Newton said. “I’m not doing it for no plea deal.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2019 at 9:13 AM.
