Lexington murder trial ends in hung jury, plus other Fayette County court updates
Court cases stemming from several homicides in Central Kentucky moved through the court system in October as defendants received their prison sentences or faced new trials.
These developments include a Lexington man charged with murder facing a second trial after a jury could not reach a verdict, and a man charged with murder being released from jail after pleading guilty to a lesser charge.
Here are updates on court cases previously covered by the Herald-Leader.
October murder trial results in hung jury
A 20-year-old Lexington man charged with murder will go to trial again after his first trial ended in a hung jury earlier this month.
Jamierion Allen was charged with the murder of 21-year-old Clinton Brown in May 2023.
Lexington police arrested Allen shortly after being called to a shooting on Pine Street near South Limestone. Surveillance footage showed Allen aggressively approach Brown with a hand on his gun and shoot him twice after an altercation, police testified.
Allen’s phone records also placed him at the scene, according to his arrest warrant.
Allen’s trial lasted three days, and after multiple hours of deliberation, the jurors said they were unable to reach a verdict, according to court documents.
His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 8, according to court records.
Man pleads guilty to murder, released from custody
A Lexington man who pleaded guilty to amended charges on Oct. 7 related to the death of his brother-in-law has been released from custody.
Willow Cherry, 52, was indicted in August 2018 with tampering with physical evidence and the murder of 35-year-old Peter Lian. Lian was first reported missing by his wife, Birdie Eaton, in February of 2018. At that time, Eaton told police that the last time she saw Lian, her brother Willow Cherry was “on top of him beating him,” a complaint said. Cherry and Lian had been in a verbal argument.
Lian’s body has not been found.
Earlier this month, Cherry pleaded guilty to amended charges of second-degree manslaughter as part of a plea deal. His charge of evidence tampering was dismissed.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison, and was given credit for the five years he had already served. As a result, Cherry was released from custody on Oct. 23, according to court documents.
Cherry has also been listed as a person of interest in the 1994 disappearance of his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Acton, according to several missing persons’ sites. At the time of Acton’s disappearance, she was a nursing educator at Central Baptist in Lexington.
Acton was last seen at the Days Inn on Colonial Avenue in Colonial Beach, Virginia on Aug. 24, 1994. Her body has never been found.
Michigan man charged with murder sentenced to lesser charge
A Michigan man accused of killing another man at a Lexington gentleman’s club in 2021 was sentenced this month to serve 18 years in prison.
Kamond Taylor, 33, was sentenced on Oct. 18 on one count of first-degree manslaughter in the death of 43-year-old Ali Robinson.
At the time of the shooting, surveillance footage showed a man wearing a “unique” turquoise-colored Polo shirt and a dark blue hat with a horse emblem, according to previous court testimony.
Robinson was seen on surveillance footage entering the club when Taylor fired shots at him, according to police. Taylor then walked over to Robinson and shot him point-blank in the head, according to court testimony. Taylor was later detained in Michigan.
Taylor was originally charged with murder, but accepted amended charges as a result of a plea deal in August.
