Male juvenile charged with murder in UK student's shooting death

Lexington police have arrested a third person, a male juvenile, in last week's fatal shooting of a University of Kentucky student.

The 17-year-old, whose name was not released, was charged Monday with murder, robbery and tampering with physical evidence in the death of Jonathan Krueger, according to a news release from city spokeswoman Susan Straub. He was arrested in west Lexington, Straub said.

Police do not expect to make any other arrests in the case, according to the release.

Attorneys entered pleas of not guilty Monday on behalf of the two men previously charged with murder in the case.

Justin D. Smith, 18, and Efrain Diaz, 20 appeared briefly in court via video from the Fayette County jail, where they are being held without bond.

District Judge T. Bruce Bell scheduled preliminary hearings May 7 for both men. Krueger, a junior at UK, was shot about 2 a.m. Friday at East Maxwell Street and Transylvania Park during the course of a robbery.

His death was the city's fifth of six homicides this year.

In addition to murder, Smith and Diaz were charged with first-degree robbery. Smith also was charged with tampering with evidence. Lexington attorney Joseph Buckles is representing Smith. Diaz is represented by public defender Kim Green.

Earlier Monday, police and Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson would not say how many assailants or guns were involved.

"I really am not going to talk about the facts of a pending case," Larson said. "And if you were on trial, you'd want me to say that."

Thomas O'Mara, who lives near Transylvania Park and East Maxwell Street, said Friday that he heard two or three gunshots followed by a pause and then four or five more.

Police have said that Krueger and another person were walking along East Maxwell when the crime occurred. Krueger was walking home. O'Mara, who helped the second man, a fraternity brother of Krueger, said the victim reported being beaten and robbed of his watch and wallet before he ran from the assailants.

Documents filed with district court outline the attack but offer few details about what happened. Smith's citation states he "threatened the immediate use of force against the victims while armed with firearms to accomplish a theft.

"During the ... theft, the suspects intentionally caused the death of one victim by means of a firearm," the citation says. "The suspect then attempted to discard evidence of the crime to prevent its use in an official proceeding."

The document does not specify what evidence was discarded. However, at least one media outlet reported that police had recovered a gun on another street. The documents do not say what was taken in the alleged robbery.

At least once in a police report filed in court, the officer wrote that the suspects were armed with firearms, suggesting more than one gun was involved.

The citation for Diaz similarly mentions the use of force in a robbery and intentionally causing a death.

None of the court documents specifies who fired the shot that killed Krueger, who was the photo editor for the UK campus newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel. The coroner's office said he died from a gunshot wound to the chest.

On Friday, after their arrests, when a reporter asked Smith whether he killed Krueger, Smith said, "No. Hell no." Diaz, when asked the same question, said, "I'm innocent."

Diaz has two outstanding warrants for failure to appear in Fayette Circuit Court in two cases, according to information filed with the court.

The first case involves a 2014 indictment for possession of a controlled substance, promoting contraband and trespassing. The second involves a 2015 indictment for burglary and possession of burglary tools in connection with a break-in on Fort Harrods Drive.

Smith had no previous record in adult court.

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 10:09 AM with the headline "Male juvenile charged with murder in UK student's shooting death."