I agree, it's a fair question to ask. There are also a lot of legitimate reasons she could be there. The story never addresses it so people assume the worst. It didn't say whether she was hanging out with other kids or just grabbing a bite to eat with adults. She could have just be getting back in town from fall break with a friend's family and stopped to eat before they dropped her off. There are a lot of legitimate reasons she could be there at 4am. PP's posts about her tweeting sheds some light on it.

 

But, it was a fair question to ask.

 

I have to admit I assumed the worse since it happened at 4:00am. I don't think I would have if it had happened at 4:00 pm

The 2nd verse of this song is very poignant to this incident......as is the whole song to gun violence.

 

How do you know the mother wasn't with her from the article? It doesn't say anything in that article other than she died at 5am. When the article came out, there were a number of legitimate reasons she could be there including being there with a parent. Since the article came out, we now know she was there for awhile tweeting about a shooting.

 

It was a fair question to ask what she was doing out at 4 am but there could have been good reasons why. Now we know there wasn't.

 

It is so sad...and to your point.....I admit, I assumed that her mother was not there because I would think that mom would have pulled her out of a potentially dangerous situation before the first tweet related to gunshots was tweeted.

'Put that phone down and let's get out of here" instinctual parenting type stuff. I'm really not judging anyone's actions...I just keep thinking ...man I wish that this could have been avoided. Such a respected/talented young woman with what seemed to be a huge future ahead of her gone for no reason.

It is so sad...and to your point.....I admit, I assumed that her mother was not there because I would think that mom would have pulled her out of a potentially dangerous situation before the first tweet related to gunshots was tweeted.

'Put that phone down and let's get out of here" instinctual parenting type stuff. I'm really not judging anyone's actions...I just keep thinking ...man I wish that this could have been avoided. Such a respected/talented young woman with what seemed to be a huge future ahead of her gone for no reason.

 

The original article never mentioned anything about her tweeting about hearing gunshots. Again, after all the information has come out, I absolutely agree with everyone and I agreed at the time it's a fair question to ask why a 15 year old was out at 4am.

 

The only thing I stated, was based on the original article, there were a number of reasons why a 15 year old was in a restaurant at 4am. Now with the new info, I can not think of reason why she would be there and why she wouldn't leave the first time she heard shots.

 

Either way, it is a very sad situation.

The original article never mentioned anything about her tweeting about hearing gunshots. Again, after all the information has come out, I absolutely agree with everyone and I agreed at the time it's a fair question to ask why a 15 year old was out at 4am.

 

The only thing I stated, was based on the original article, there were a number of reasons why a 15 year old was in a restaurant at 4am. Now with the new info, I can not think of reason why she would be there and why she wouldn't leave the first time she heard shots.

 

Either way, it is a very sad situation.

 

See post 46

The trial started last Tuesday, and wrapped up late yesterday afternoon. 4 men faced charges.

 

Chazerae M. Taylor, 40 - Wanton murder, four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

D’markeo C. Taylor, 21 - First-degree wanton endangerment.

Lamonte Williams, 20 - Five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

Dvonta Middlebrooks, 23 - Six counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and violation of probation and parole.

 

The investigators and prosecution did not identify which gun/shooter was the one that killed 15 year old Trinity Gay, but 40 year old Chazerae Taylor was charged with her murder for shooting the first shot and instigating the gunfight between his car, which also carried his son D’markeo, and the car carrying Williams and Middlebrooks.

 

Chazerea Taylor, D'Markeo Taylor, and Lamonte Williams were all found guilty on all charges, and Dvonta Middlebrooks was found guilty on one count of first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and violation of probation and parole. Middlebrooks was found not guilty on the remaining counts of wanton endangerment.

 

Sentencing will take place later this morning.

Each first-degree wanton endangerment charge carries a 1-5 year sentence. Murder is a minimum 20 year sentence in Kentucky, and I'm assuming the death penalty is not on the table in light of the fact that the prosecutors didn't identify the actual gun/shooter responsible for killing Trinity Gay.

 

None of the defendants testified, and all of their individual attorneys argued that their clients' did not kill Trinity Gay. There was apparently a LOT of argument over the fact that the gun/shooter was not identified, but Chazerea Taylor's murder conviction was based on the prosecution's assertion that had he not fired first, there would not have been a shootout and Trinity Gay would not be dead. The jury also had the option to consider lesser charges of 2nd-degree manslaughter, or reckless homicide for Chazerea Taylor.

 

It took the jury about 5 hours of deliberation to return with their decision.

Chazerae M. Taylor, 40 - Wanton murder, four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

D’markeo C. Taylor, 21 - First-degree wanton endangerment.

Lamonte Williams, 20 - Five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

Dvonta Middlebrooks, 23 - Six counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and violation of probation and parole.

 

The investigators and prosecution did not identify which gun/shooter was the one that killed 15 year old Trinity Gay, but 40 year old Chazerae Taylor was charged with her murder for shooting the first shot and instigating the gunfight between his car, which also carried his son D’markeo, and the car carrying Williams and Middlebrooks.

 

Chazerea Taylor, D'Markeo Taylor, and Lamonte Williams were all found guilty on all charges, and Dvonta Middlebrooks was found guilty on one count of first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and violation of probation and parole. Middlebrooks was found not guilty on the remaining counts of wanton endangerment.

 

Chazerae M. Taylor, 40 - Wanton murder, four counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. Sentenced to 20 years.

D’markeo C. Taylor, 21 - First-degree wanton endangerment. Sentenced to 15 months.

Lamonte Williams, 20 - Five counts of first-degree wanton endangerment. Sentenced to 1 year.

Dvonta Middlebrooks, 23 - Six counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and violation of probation and parole. Sentenced to 15 years.

 

Dvonta Middlebrooks was sentenced to an additional 115 months today on federal firearm charges. Middlebrooks was arrested in August of 2018 while out on bond between the time of the Trinity Gay shooting in 2016 and the subsequent trial in October 2018. Parole officers showed up at his residence and arrested him for possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, possession of cocaine, and for tampering with evidence. He will have to serve at least 85% of his added time before he is eligible for parole.