Threats made to Lexington murder suspect become point of contention in trial
Key evidence was presented Wednesday in the trial for Jacouri Burns, 26, who is accused of shooting and killing Lonnie Oxendine, 22, outside of the Lexington City Center last year.
Law enforcement officers and emergency personnel who responded to the scene testified in court to describe the aftermath of the shooting and the evidence collection process. Investigators say they had difficulty obtaining the victim’s cell phone and getting witnesses to speak.
One witness was Lexington police officer Michael Dick, a patrolman who responded to the scene on Jan. 31 outside of the Marriott hotel downtown. He said when he and other first responders arrived, they found Oxendine and rendered aid until the paramedics arrived.
After Oxendine was taken to the hospital, officers attempted to get statements from his family on the scene. Dick said family members didn’t want to speak with him and were making plans to go to the hospital with the victim.
Dick said he attempted to speak with Shelby Statton, the girlfriend of Oxendine once at the hospital, who he said gave her name, but then refused to speak with him and walked away.
He said she appeared nervous.
“It is not uncommon for someone to not want to give a statement, but in this situation with someone who was so close to the victim at the time of the incident, I found it odd,” Dick said.
Statton confirmed in testimony Tuesday that she didn’t speak to the police other than once at the hospital when they asked to question her.
“I knew Lonnie would not want me to talk to the police, so I didn’t,” she said Tuesday.
Dick said it was fair to say Oxendine’s family and friends were not cooperative with officers.
Lexington homicide detective Ryan Raker also testified that he was unable to speak with members of Oxendine’s family that were at the scene on the night of the shooting, with the exception of one field interview with Statton.
“I did a field interview with Statton and attempted multiple times to set up formal interviews with the family,” Raker said. “I was not able to do formal interviews because they would not come to speak with me and I was unable to locate them to speak with them.”
Evidence presented in court: Handgun, ammo, suspect’s cell phone
Prosecutors presented dozens of items of evidence that were collected over the course of the investigation. Some of this evidence included photographs, bodycam footage, forensic videos, police interviews, and items found on the scene which were presented to the jury.
The evidence also included four shell casings found at the scene, clothing, projectiles and a gold watch. An FN Five Seven semi-automatic pistol and live rounds were also shown. The pistol and rounds were found inside a residence in Frankfort where Burns was arrested.
At the residence, police also found Burns’ Kentucky ID and a concealed carry license in his name.
Burns’ cell phone was also presented as evidence, and the jury was shown messages which were sent through Snapchat. Raker said he found threatening messages which someone had sent to Burns’ Snapchat.
Police: Unclear who threatened Burns prior to the shooting
Joseph Eggert, Burns’ attorney, spoke of these threats in his opening statements on Tuesday, saying they were sent on Instagram. However, the messages were read aloud to the jury from a Snapchat platform which included a group message with three people.
Threats made early on the morning of Jan. 31 included statements from a number which said, “(Expletive) will die,” “Bring your biggest guns,” and “Let me know so I can get it poppin’.” Messages read aloud in court indicated the person making the threats was willing to go to Kentucky State University, where Burns attended school, and Alabama, where his family was living.
However, Raker said he was not able to confirm whether the messages came from Oxendine specifically.
On Tuesday, Oxendine’s sister, Precious Parker, said her brother didn’t even have Snapchat because he was “too old” to be on the app.
Raker said that while he couldn’t say the threats were made by Oxendine to Burns with 100% certainty, he also couldn’t 100% prove they did not come from Oxendine.
“You can’t tell this jury this is not Lonnie Oxendine,” Eggert said.
Eggert asked if the investigators were able to obtain Oxendine’s phone to confirm whether or not those messages were sent from his phone.
Raker said he asked Oxendine’s family for the phone, but was unsuccessful in obtaining it because Oxendine’s family was not able to get the phone. Raker also said he felt Oxendine’s phone was “not necessary to have.”
Raker confirmed he did ask for the phone, and attempted to locate it from the family, but they didn’t comply.
“What is on that phone we will never be able to confirm was (Oxendine),” Eggert said to Raker. “We don’t know because you were never able to get that phone. So you don’t have evidence it was anyone but Lonnie Oxendine.”
Raker replied, “I don’t have any evidence that says it was.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jenna Casady asked if Raker had any reason to think there was additional evidence which could be found on Oxendine’s phone that would not have been shown on Burns’ phone. Raker said no, and added that any communication between Burns and Oxendine would have been included on Burns’ phone data.
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 2:13 PM.
