Fatal shooting in Lexington was gun swap gone wrong, police say
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- Police say a planned Instagram gun trade escalated; 17-year-old Johnathon Hunt died.
- Investigators tied Amontae Flynn to the scene via photos, surveillance and witness ID.
- Judge found probable cause; case heads to grand jury with Flynn held on $1M bond.
A fatal shooting that left a 17-year-old dead in Lexington this month was a gun swap gone wrong, a Lexington police detective testified Wednesday.
Johnathon Hunt was shot and killed Feb. 5 at the Westminster Village apartment complex on Versailles Road. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police arrested Amontae Flynn, 18, two weeks later. He faces charges of murder and first-degree robbery.
On Wednesday morning, at a preliminary hearing in Fayette District Court, Lexington Det. Greg George testified Hunt and Flynn had set up a gun trade over Instagram, but the deal fell apart, and Flynn shot Hunt in the chest three times.
The incident began when Flynn messaged Hunt on Instagram when he arrived at the site of the deal, the detective said. When Hunt and a witness arrived, Hunt was in the driver’s seat, and the gun was in the passenger’s seat, George said.
“The witness had described that when they went to the park, there was two people there with ski masks, and that’s who they were there to meet,” George said. “They had got in the back seat of the vehicle, and there was some argument over the gun.”
When the deal started to fall apart, a third person wearing a ski mask appeared. George testified that Hunt started to drive away but was shot by Flynn, who was sitting behind Hunt in the back seat.
Investigators found three .40-caliber shell casings in the backs eat of the car. The witness in the passenger’s seat stayed at the scene and told police Flynn shot Hunt with a black handgun that had a golden magazine.
When officers searched Flynn’s phone on Feb. 19, they found photos taken the same day of the shooting that showed Flynn in possession of a .40-caliber handgun with a golden magazine.
Flynn was also wearing the same outfit in the photos that he was spotted wearing during the shooting on the apartment complex’s surveillance video.
“In that surveillance video, it’s very clear that we can see the exact description of one of the individuals wearing a gray jacket and black pants with tears in the knees, matching what Mr. Flynn was wearing in photos he took that day,” George said.
After the shooting, another person grabbed the gun they were there to trade for and fled. George said the shooting is still under investigation because there may be other people involved.
“We’ve also had numerous individuals and crime stoppers tips all identifying Amontae Flynn as the shooter,” George said.
Fayette District Judge Bruce Bell found probable cause in Flynn’s case and sent it forward to a grand jury. Bell also left Flynn’s $1 million bond unchanged.
Flynn is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center.
The fatal shooting was Lexington’s sixth this year. At this point last year, the city had reported two, according to police data.
