Lexington mother gets probation in deadly stabbing after judge says she acted in self-defense
A Lexington mother who killed a man and hid his body by a dumpster will not serve prison time after it was determined she acted in self-defense, a Fayette County judge ruled Thursday.
Jennifer Kashuba, 37, previously faced charges of murder, abuse of a corpse and evidence tampering for the death of 40-year-old James “Jimmy” Medlock. But as her court case unfolded, a grand jury found reason to reduce her charge to manslaughter. Fayette Circuit Judge Julie Goodman later ruled Kashuba shouldn’t face the manslaughter charge either.
Kashuba ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of evidence tampering. Goodman sentenced her to one year of probation Thursday. During that time, Kashuba must be employed and assessed for mental health counseling, Goodman ruled. She will be staying at a local domestic violence shelter immediately after her release Thursday morning.
“Jennifer has been through a tough life and this has been the biggest punctuation of that,” said Marcel Bush Radomile, Kashuba’s attorney.
Why judge ruled a Lexington suspect acted in self-defense
Kashuba was charged in February following the fatal stabbing of 40-year-old Medlock in August 2021. Court testimony revealed Kashuba stabbed Medlock in self-defense as he was attacking her in her home in front of her young children.
Kashuba hid Medlock’s body in the closet for nearly two months before she moved the corpse outside and left it by the dumpster, according to police testimony in court. Radomile testified this decision was made in haste at the height of the pandemic with no way to call for help, and fearing for her children being taken.
Medlock’s body was found months later, in February 2022. Police were not able to identify his body for months. DNA forensics were used to identify Medlock, and ultimately progress the Lexington Police Department’s investigation.
Goodman dropped Kashuba’s manslaughter charge, ruling there was a lack of evidence from police that she was the aggressor. Goodman said previously that police had only provided evidence that Medlock was the aggressor.
“There was absolutely no evidence that he was the victim of aggression,” Goodman said at a previous hearing.
The abuse of a corpse charge was later dismissed after Kashuba accepted a plea deal in August to one charge of evidence tampering, which would have carried a sentence of three years if Goodman hadn’t granted her probation.
“Jennifer acknowledges when she did not report the death and discarded or disposed of the knife, she used and removed the body, she did tamper with evidence,” Radomile told media previously. “She is taking responsibility for what she did — she does not take it lightly.”
