Lexington man who committed deadly Fayette Mall shooting reaches plea deal. Here’s why
The man who shot and killed a 17 year old inside Fayette Mall in 2020 has reached an agreement with prosecutors to accept a conviction for manslaughter instead of murder, according to court records.
Xavier Hardin, 21, pleaded guilty to manslaughter, assault and wanton endangerment charges in the killing of Kenneth Bottoms Jr., after reaching a plea agreement earlier this week, according to court records.. Hardin, who was 19 at the time of the incident, also injured two bystanders when he fired shots inside the mall on Aug. 23, 2020.
Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn said Hardin’s plea agreement was reached through mediation and Bottoms’ family was in agreement with the plea deal. The plea agreement accounted “for the facts of the case,” Red Corn said, which included that “both the defendant and Kenneth were carrying handguns that day at the mall.”
“There were video recordings of their encounter, and the defendant raised a claim of self-protection,” Red Corn said. “Regardless of the defendant’s claim, he injured innocent persons and put others in harm’s way when (he) started shooting. This is another tragic example of why teens should not be carrying guns in the first place.”
Hardin’s lawyers did previously argue that Hardin shot Bottoms in self-defense because he saw that Bottoms had a gun and he had previously been threatened by the group which confronted him inside the mall that day. Investigators confirmed in court records that Bottoms was carrying a Glock 9 mm.
The shooting, and the altercation which led up to it, were caught on surveillance video. In the video, Hardin appeared to be concealing something in his waistband as he walked into a mall entrance near Dick’s Sporting Goods and “was looking over his shoulders like he was being followed,” an officer wrote in an arrest warrant.
Hardin told investigators he was carrying the gun for personal protection, according to court records.
‘Beef’ between teenagers culminated in fatal shooting
Hardin was confronted inside the mall by Bottoms and three men who accompanied him. Detective Brandon Gibbs previously testified in court that the group yelled expletives at Hardin.
Footage of the altercation was played in a court hearing, and Hardin’s attorneys filed photos from the surveillance footage in court records.
One of Bottoms’ friends tried to pull Bottoms away from the argument, according to court records. He was unsuccessful.
One witness testified to police that Bottoms spit on Hardin during the argument, according to court records. Another noted hearing expletives. Another said they heard Hardin ask, “You don’t think I’ll pull it out?”
As the argument intensified, bystanders started to flee, according to the video. Hardin then pulled a gun out of his waistband and fired.
Bottoms collapsed. Some bystanders dove to the floor while others ran. One scrambled to Bottoms’ body and started performing chest compressions.
Bottoms’ friends eventually fled the scene, but two of them took items from Bottoms’ body before they left. Those two friends, Nasir Lyons and Cion Townsend, were charged with evidence tampering. Their attorney, Daniel Whitley, argued in court records that the two young men didn’t do anything wrong and had just witnessed their friend’s death.
The charge against Lyons was eventually dropped. Townsend’s court case is still active, according to records.
Hardin can be seen in surveillance video running away. He fled out of the mall, got in his vehicle and drove off, according to court records. Hardin’s mother, whose location wasn’t clear in court records, quickly called police dispatch to tell them Hardin had been the shooter in the mall, according to court testimony from Gibbs. She said he was being harassed in an ongoing situation.
Hardin’s attorneys also alleged in court records that Hardin had been shot at repeatedly in previous incidents.
On Nov. 14, 2019, Hardin was allegedly in the same car as Darius Bolden when someone came up to the back of the vehicle and fired into it, striking and killing Bolden.
Hardin helped police identify Demarcus Hill as the shooter, according to court records. Being identified as a witness in the case “caused (Hardin) to experience a significant amount of fear for his life in the months leading up to the shooting that occurred at the mall,” his attorneys said in a motion filed in June.
Hardin was publicly identified as the person who told police that Hill was the shooter. Hill was charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter, according to court records. Investigators spoke with two other witnesses to the shooting, according to court records. One gave a suspect description and the other said they weren’t able to identify anyone who was involved.
On Aug. 8, just weeks before the Fayette Mall shooting, Hardin was driving in the area of Man O’ War Boulevard and Mt. McKinley Way when he was allegedly shot at by someone in a van. He thought the shooter looked like Kenneth, according to court records. Hardin wasn’t hit with gunfire but police found a bullet hole in his car, according to court records.
Bottoms was never identified as a suspect or charged in that case before his death, but Hardin’s attorneys argued in a court motion that the description matched Kenneth.
Court records indicate that Hardin and Bottoms had a four-year “beef” with each other which culminated in the fatal shooting. The conflict between the two allegedly started when Hardin “told on” Bottoms for a robbery, though Hardin denies the allegation, according to court records.
Hardin is scheduled to be sentenced in May. He faces a maximum of 23 years in prison if his sentences are run consecutively, based on the sentencing recommendations made by prosecutors in the plea agreement. Prosecutors didn’t make a recommendation on whether or not Hardin’s sentences should run consecutively or at the same time.
If a judge decides to run all his sentences at the same time, he would have to serve at least eight and a half years, based on the prosecutors’ recommendations. He’s required by to serve at least 85 percent of the sentence given to him for his manslaughter conviction because it is a violent offense.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 12:19 PM.