Detective: Woman was shot near off-campus UK housing before dying at Lexington home
After a planned drug deal ended in gunfire, a Lexington woman’s son and his friend drove her home not realizing she’d been shot in the chest, a detective testified in court Monday.
Crystal Howard, 35, died on the night of Feb. 20 at her home on Shaftsbury Road after being shot during a drug deal at an apartment complex parking lot on Angliana Avenue, Lexington police detective Ryan Raker said at a preliminary hearing Monday.
Joseph Manuel Gonzalez, 21, of Shelbyville was charged with murder, robbery and two counts of wanton endangerment in the case, according to police and court records. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals in Shelbyville on Feb. 21.
Howard’s son had set up a drug buy through social media with a person known to him as “Jiggy,” Raker said. “Jiggy” told Howard’s son to meet him at the apartment complex on Angliana Avenue and to come alone.
The apartment complex where the drug deal occurred, 5 Twenty Four Angliana, is known as an off-campus housing option for University of Kentucky students.
Howard’s son, his friend and Howard drove to the apartment complex in a pickup truck, and the friend and Howard got in the bed of the truck before Howard’s son picked up “Jiggy” and drove to the back of the parking lot, Raker said.
At some point during the deal, Howard and her son’s friend felt the truck begin to move backward and thought the deal was over, Raker said. They got out of the bed of the truck and moved to the passenger side, only to see that “Jiggy” was still inside.
“Jiggy” pointed a gun at the two of them before getting out of the truck, putting Howard’s son’s friend in a headlock and holding a gun to his head, Raker said.
“Jiggy” demanded all of the group’s belongings, including $1,800 in cash, before throwing Howard’s son’s friend to the ground and turning the gun to Howard, Raker said. When the gun was pointed at Howard, her son tackled “Jiggy” to the ground and tried to wrestle the gun away from him, the detective testified.
“Jiggy” got free and ran around the driver’s side of the truck before firing two shots at Howard, her son and her son’s friend, Raker said. One of the shots struck Howard in the chest.
Howard’s son and his friend didn’t realize Howard had been shot, so they helped her into the truck and the group drove home to Shaftsbury Road, Raker said. Once the group arrived at the home, they realized Howard was unresponsive.
Police and emergency responders were called to the home, but Howard was dead when they arrived, Raker said.
Howard’s son and his friend both identified “Jiggy” as being Gonzalez in a photograph array of six people, Raker said. One of them said they were “100 percent sure, the other was 110 percent sure.”
When Gonzalez was arrested and brought back to Lexington he did not give a statement to investigators, Raker said. A firearm was recovered when Gonzalez was arrested in Shelbyville, he said.
Fayette County District Judge Joseph T. Bouvier found that there was enough evidence to send the case on to a grand jury, which will determine whether or not to indict Gonzalez and send his case to circuit court to be prepared for trial.
