Two Lexington men charged with murder in 2019 case, raising homicide number to 30
Two Lexington men were charged with murder in connection with a December assault that resulted in the death of 59-year-old Michael Coyle, police say, resulting in Lexington’s 30th homicide of 2019.
William T. Justus, 50, and Mervil Spencer, Jr., 48, were arrested and charged with murder on Thursday, Lexington police announced in a press release.
During an initial investigation in December, officers originally believed Coyle to be the aggressor and charged him with assault, the press release stated.
But Coyle—who sustained injuries during the incident—died in January and police say detectives learned additional information showing that Justus and Spencer intentionally attacked Coyle and caused his injuries.
According to the police press release, officers responded to a reported disorder involving all three men and a weapon at an apartment building on Bayou Court at around 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 14.
All three men were neighbors in the apartment building, court documents show.
According to Coyle’s police report—which was written shortly after the incident in December and officers believed him to be the aggressor—Justus and Spencer told police that Coyle left his residence “aggressively/yelling” and was wielding a machete.
Justus and Spencer told police that Coyle tried to strike them with the machete, and that they were forced to grab the machete “by the blade” to stop Coyle from striking them, resulting in cuts to both of their hands. Justus and Spencer told police at the time that Coyle attacked them because he thought they were “loud while walking their dog,” court documents show.
Coyle was arrested after the incident and during a Dec. 18 court hearing, a judge ruled that Coyle would be allowed to stay with his sister after he was released from the hospital.
Coyle died in January, a police press release stated, and the Fayette County Coroner’s Office found that his cause of death was blunt force trauma.
During the investigation, detectives learned new information showing that Justus and Spencer intentionally attacked Coyle, and police charged both Justus and Spencer with murder.
The police reports for Justus and Spencer, which were written after their arrests on Thursday, both say that they “caused the death of the victim, by striking them with extreme indifference to human life,” causing Coyle’s death.
“At the time of the incident, both Justus and Spencer made statements that seemed credible and led to patrol placing the charge they did against Coyle.,” said Brenna Angel, the public information officer for Lexington police. “Since then, new information and witness statements have come to light which contradicted what Justus and Spencer said.”
Justus and Spencer were arraigned Friday in Fayette District Court and their next court date is at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, February 17.
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 4:45 PM.