Dispute in Fayette Mall led to woman’s death outside. Attorney questions evidence
An attorney for a woman accused of fatally shooting another woman in the head outside Fayette Mall in 2019 argued Tuesday that her bond should be lowered.
Markeeta Campbell, 23, is charged with murder in the death of 30-year-old LaPorscha Stringer. Stringer was found in her car at a mall parking lot exit on the night of Aug. 23, 2019, with a gunshot wound to the head. She was taken to a hospital where she later died of her injuries. Campbell was arrested about a year later on Aug. 31.
Campbell’s attorney, Noel Caldwell, asked Fayette District Court Judge Lindsay H. Thurston to lower Campbell’s bond Tuesday from $500,000 to $100,000. He argued that Lexington police have known much of the information cited in Campbell’s arrest warrant for more than a year and hadn’t arrested her. The only new evidence hinged on information from an unnamed witness, Caldwell said.
Investigators believe that Campbell and Stringer were involved in an altercation inside Fayette Mall before the shooting, and witnesses in the mall reported hearing the women say they were going to fight in the parking lot, according to the warrant. Video from inside the mall showed that both Campbell and Stringer were in the mall that night and had a confrontation.
A person who was on the phone with Stringer that night said she heard Stringer say “Keets was driving crazy” and chasing her around the mall parking lot, according to the warrant. The person on the phone then heard gunshots, and Stringer stopped talking.
In the hours after the shooting, police tried to find Campbell. When they went to her home, they found her brother leaving. Her brother told police that his mother had told him to take clothes to a home on Charles Avenue, according to the warrant. Police found Campbell’s car at the Charles Avenue home, but she wasn’t there.
At Tuesday’s court appearance, Caldwell argued that police had known all of that information since the shooting occurred. Police have also known where to find Campbell but did not arrest her. He questioned the credibility of the information given to police by the unnamed source.
The source told police that Campbell had confided to them that she had killed Stringer, according to the warrant. The person also gave information that had been told by Stringer that was consistent with evidence collected at the crime scene.
Lastly, the source gave investigators a “detailed description” of a gun that they knew Campbell had bought and kept with her, according to the warrant. Investigators then learned from a gun store that Campbell had purchased a Taurus 9 mm pistol on June 11, 2019.
Campbell waived her right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday, and her case will be sent to a Fayette County grand jury, which will decide whether to indict her and move her case on to Fayette County Circuit Court. Caldwell said he believes Campbell is innocent and intends to fight for her as the case moves forward.
Campbell has a full-time job and is caring for a 1-year-old child, Caldwell said. He asked that her bond be lowered so that she could be incarcerated at home where she could continue her work and care for the child.
Thurston acknowledged Campbell’s lack of extensive criminal history, her full-time work and her education. Dye to the severity of the charge, Thurston said she would not lower bond.
Stringer, who lived in Nicholasville, had three children, worked as a hairdresser and was remembered by friends as being funny, smart and positive. Her cousin said at the time of her death that Stringer had planned to move out of state to make a better life for her and her children.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 1:09 PM.
