Two teens charged with murder of high school student found shot near Lexington park
Two teens have been arrested and charged with murder in the death of a 16-year-old Lexington high school student who was killed in a shooting earlier this month.
Lexington police said in a news release Tuesday night that Emmanuel Contreras, 19, and a 16-year-old are both charged with murder in the death of Christopher Valdez, who was found by police after the shooting in the area of Pine Meadows Park.
Contreras and the juvenile are also facing charges of first-degree assault in the shooting.
Police said that when they were called to Tazewell Drive just after 2 p.m. July 5, they found a male juvenile with a gunshot wound who was taken to a hospital, and another male juvenile arrived at a hospital with a gunshot wound soon afterward.
They found Valdez’s body while searching the area. He would have been a senior at Lafayette High School this fall.
Contreras, who was arrested Tuesday, was being held in the Fayette County Detention Center. He is also charged with tampering with physical evidence and trafficking in marijuana.
The 16-year-old was taken to a juvenile detention center and is also charged with being a minor in possession of a handgun.
At a vigil at the park Sunday, Christopher’s sister, Carmen Garcia, asked that anyone with information about the shooting come forward, saying “he left us a good legacy and his leaving us hurts.”
Police said in the release that “the Real Time Intelligence Center and Flock license plate reader system were used to help further the investigation.”
