Six years after victim’s body found, Lexington suspect sentenced for his connection
Six years after the body of a mother of three was found, a man charged with her murder was sentenced to prison Tuesday for a lesser charge.
Lawrence Westbrook III, 45, was sentenced to six years by Fayette Circuit Judge Kimberly Bunnell — a result of a plea deal he accepted in May. Westbrook pleaded guilty to second-degree complicity to manslaughter.
In 2018, he was originally charged with murder and being a persistent felony offender for the death of 39-year-old Rachel Jean Preston.
Westbrook was arrested in 2017 after Preston’s body was found near the Jessamine County line on Tates Creek Road with multiple gunshot wounds.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amanda Naish said previously the deal was reached “based on the facts of the case.” She said complicity to manslaughter was offered because another person said they were present at the time of the killing, and implicated another suspect.
His six-year sentence will run consecutively with a federal 25-year sentence he received in December 2019 in a separate case.
In that case, Westbrook pleaded guilty to federal charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine, and two counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug crime. He was also charged in connected with firearm straw purchasing, but the charges were dismissed as part of the plea deal.
