Lexington woman faces reduced charge in a deadly stabbing, records show
A Lexington woman previously accused of murder was indicted Wednesday on a lesser charge of manslaughter, according to court records.
Jennifer Kashuba — who has been accused of a deadly stabbing — was also indicted on charges of abusing a corpse and evidence tampering.
Kashuba made her first Fayette Circuit Court appearance on the new charge Thursday. She pleaded not guilty and her bond was reduced to $25,000. It had previously been $110,000.
When she was arrested on February 27, the 35-year-old Kashuba was originally charged with the murder of Jimmy Medlock. They both shared an apartment at the time of the deadly incident, according to court documents.
Kashuba allegedly stabbed Medlock with a kitchen knife in August 2021 after a verbal and physical altercation, a Lexington police detective said in a previous court hearing.
The investigation started months after the incident when police and the coroner found Medlock’s decomposed body wrapped in plastic near Cambridge Drive in February 2022. The body could not be identified at first and the investigation continued for more than a year. Eventually investigators were able to identify Medlock through a breakthrough in DNA testing.
Kashuba’s attorney argued in a March hearing that the stabbing was in self-defense. The attorney, Marcel Bush Radomile, pushed for Kashuba’s charge to be lowered to manslaughter during that hearing. Fayette District Judge John Tackett denied Radomile’s request, but a grand jury ultimately decided not to keep the murder charge in place.
This story was originally published May 18, 2023 at 8:06 AM.