Community mourns UK student killed Friday; scholarship fund created

A spontaneous floral memorial bloomed Saturday on a corner of East Maxwell and Transylvania Park in Lexington in honor of Jonathan Krueger, a University of Kentucky student who was gunned down early Friday in an apparent robbery.

Throughout the day, friends, students, neighbors — even strangers — added to the memorial, anxious to soothe in some way a tragedy that has rocked the university and community.

Ling Mei, who lives in the neighborhood, did not know Krueger, but she brought a handful of yellow dandelions to the site.

"I know it's not much but I wanted to do something for him and his family," she said. "It's so sad."

Gil Bagang, a UK senior majoring in health care communications, lives a few houses away from where the shooting occurred. He brought his beagle puppy, Augustus, to the makeshift memorial Saturday.

"I didn't know him but all I've read and heard about him, people say he had a good soul," he said. "I came home about 3:30 Friday morning from studying and saw all the police. It was a tough scene."

Krueger, 22, of Perrysburg, Ohio, died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

He was shot during a robbery about 2 a.m. Friday as he was walking with a friend on East Maxwell, police have said. He died a little later at UK Chandler Hospital.

Krueger was photo editor of the school newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel. A community vigil is scheduled for 8 p.m. Monday outside UK's Memorial Hall, Kernel adviser Chris Poore said Saturday.

In case of rain, the ceremony will be held inside the landmark building.

Poore also said Kernel Press Inc. has started a fund "to memorialize the life and contributions of our late colleague, Jonathan Krueger."

The goal, Poore said, is to raise $10,000 to provide an annual endowed scholarship to promising Kernel photographers.

About 300 people attended a candlelight vigil Friday night at UK's Newman Center, said Kakie Urch, an associate professor at UK's School of Journalism and Telecommunications who was familiar with Krueger.

"The mood was one of shock, love and appreciation for a guy who was universally loved," she said. "It was very emotional for everyone.

"It was the first time many were experiencing this kind of thing."

Two men were charged Friday with the murder. Justin D. Smith, 18, has been charged with murder, robbery, tampering with evidence and evading police. Efrain Diaz, 20, has been charged with murder and robbery.

In brief statements to the media, both reportedly denied killing Krueger.

Court documents say Smith fled in a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country minivan when a police lieutenant tried to stop him early Friday. Police caught up with him at his home on Le Havre Road. He was arrested at 5:39 a.m. Friday and was being held on $18,000 cash bond.

Diaz was arrested at his home on Queen Avenue at 6:43 p.m. Friday. He was being held on $10,000 cash bond, court records show.

Both men are lodged at the Fayette County Detention Center. They are tentatively scheduled to be arraigned at 1 p.m. Monday in Fayette District Court.

Police said Friday that others might be involved in Krueger's murder, but no additional arrests had been made or any additional details in the case released as of late Saturday afternoon, said city spokeswoman Susan Straub.

This story was originally published April 18, 2015 at 6:12 PM with the headline "Community mourns UK student killed Friday; scholarship fund created."