In the summer of 2024, a domestic dispute in Lexington, Kentucky, tragically escalated, ending the life of 24-year-old DaQuan Collins. The male victim was a father of three. The events that unfolded on August 20th on Delaware Avenue culminated in a fatal shooting and the eventual imprisonment of his killer.
The situation began when the mother of Collins' three young children, Julia Winburn, discovered he had left them unattended while she was at work.
In a state of panic, she contacted a friend, who then asked her boyfriend, 29-year-old Luis Ramos, to check on the children, who were ages one month, one year, and three years old. Prior incidents of violence between Collins and Winburn had been reported to the police, although they were still living together despite being separated.
Ramos arrived at the residence and, according to his account, instructed his girlfriend to lock the doors as Collins was allegedly trying to break in. A verbal altercation between the two men ensued and moved into the driveway. It was there that Ramos shot Collins three times. Ramos himself called 911 to report the shooting, claiming he had acted in self-defense and that Collins had threatened him with a gun.
However, the police investigation uncovered evidence that contradicted Ramos's version of events. Home surveillance footage captured the shooting and did not show Collins running towards his vehicle as if to retrieve a weapon. Furthermore, investigators found that Collins was unarmed at the time of the incident, and a search of his car yielded no firearm. A search of Ramos's vehicle, on the other hand, produced a handgun loaded with hollow-point ammunition.
Luis Ramos was arrested at the scene and initially charged with murder and using restricted ammunition during the commission of a crime. Following the shooting, Collins was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. In August 2025, Ramos pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter. He was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison.
