On a Monday morning in late April, the quiet of Sandhill Road in Livingston, Kentucky, was shattered by the discovery of a local man's body lying in the roadway. Benjamin Franklin Jones Jr., a 54-year-old male, was found with apparent gunshot wounds on April 29, 2024. The Rockcastle County Coroner pronounced him deceased at the scene, and his body was transported to the State Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
News of his violent death marked the second homicide investigation to be launched by the Kentucky State Police in Rockcastle County within a 24-hour period, unsettling the small community.
An anonymous call to Rockcastle County 911 at approximately 11:40 a.m. had initially alerted authorities to a man having been shot on Sandhill Road. Responding state troopers and personnel from the Rockcastle County Sheriff's Office, EMS, and Coroner's office converged on the scene. The subsequent investigation, led by Kentucky State Police Post 11 Detective Aaron Peace, quickly pointed towards a suspect.
Later that day, investigators located Terry Lee Burke, a 54-year-old resident of Livingston, on Misty Lane in nearby Mount Vernon. Burke was arrested by KSP Post 11 Detective Ryan Loudermilk and charged with murder in connection with Jones' death. He was subsequently lodged in the Rockcastle County Detention Center. As the legal proceedings against the suspect began, the investigation into the death of Benjamin Franklin Jones Jr. was noted as ongoing.
