More teens charged after Central Kentucky man, 73, attacked in home, killed in 2019
Two teens, one juvenile and a man in his 30s were charged with murder Thursday, more than one year after the death of a Franklin County man, according to Kentucky State Police.
State police named three of the suspects: Samuel Payne, a 37-year-old Frankfort resident, Damaja Hardy, a 19-year-old Simpsonville resident and Kendrick Bixler a 19-year-old Lawrenceburg resident. A juvenile was also charged with murder, state police said. Their name wasn’t released.
These are not the first arrests to be made in the case. The first person to be charged with murder in the case was another juvenile on Nov. 26, 2019, according to state police.
The five suspects were accused of killing Ronald Thornton, a 73-year-old Frankfort man, in his own home on Oct. 1, 2019. The Franklin County sheriff’s office on that date received a 911 call from a residence on Pea Ridge Road just after 6 a.m.
The caller hung up, state police said, and when deputies arrived they found Thornton with life-threatening injuries inside his home.
The investigation was still ongoing by a state police detective as of Thursday.