Nineteen-year-old Delaney Eary of Burlington, Kentucky, was a vibrant and creative young woman with a passion for art, painting, photography, dance, and baking. A recent graduate of Cooper High School, she was known for her kind heart and for making everyone around her feel accepted. Her friends and family remember her as a bright light, a joy in their lives, and someone who always thought of others first.
On the tragic night of Saturday, July 6, 2024, Delaney was attending a 21st
birthday party at a home on Ridgecrest Drive in Florence, Kentucky. The celebration turned into a scene of horror when a man, later identified as 21-year-old Chase Garvey, arrived uninvited and opened fire on the partygoers just before 3 a.m. Delaney, along with three other attendees—Shane Miller, 20, Hayden Rybicki, 20, and Melissa Parrett, 44—was fatally shot. Three other individuals were also wounded in the attack but were later reported to be in stable condition.
Following the shooting, Garvey fled the scene in a vehicle, leading police on a brief pursuit. The chase ended when Garvey's vehicle crashed into a ditch. When officers approached, they discovered he had sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. It was later revealed that Garvey had a previous conviction for a sex crime and had been sentenced to five years of probation in June 2022. The motive for the shooting is still under investigation, but it was reported that Garvey was known to some of the individuals at the party.
