Kenyeta McWilliams was known in her Elizabethtown, Kentucky, community for her immense generosity and compassion. A 37-year-old Black/African American woman, she was remembered by her family as a selfless and caring individual who frequently opened her home to those in need, offering them a safe space and a helping hand. Her sister said that while she taught Kenyeta about being an adult, her younger sister "taught me a lot about life in general and having compassion and kindness."
That
kindness was met with violence on the evening of December 27, 2023. A man she had been assisting, 34-year-old Chris Allen Bell Jr., was at her residence on Henon Lane. According to her family, an argument began over $5. After McWilliams gave him the money, she told him he could not spend the night and asked him to leave. She then shut and locked her front door, leaving him on the porch. Bell proceeded to fire several shots through the closed door, striking McWilliams multiple times. McWilliams had previously sought and obtained an emergency protective order against him.
Elizabethtown Police were called to the home around 8:40 p.m. and found McWilliams suffering from gunshot wounds. Officers performed life-saving measures, but she was pronounced deceased at the scene. Aided by eyewitnesses and surveillance video, investigators quickly identified Bell as the suspect. A few hours later, following a brief standoff at a home on Deepwood Drive, police took him into custody.
Bell was arrested and charged with murder, and his bond was set at $1 million. In September 2025, he stood trial in Hardin Circuit Court. A jury found him guilty of murder, as well as trafficking in marijuana and methamphetamine, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and three counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.
The jury recommended a total sentence of 20 years. However, during a formal hearing where McWilliams’s sister and others gave victim impact statements, the judge doubled the jury's recommendation, and the courtroom erupted in applause. Chris Allen Bell Jr. was sentenced to serve 40 years in prison. The case was closed with his sentencing in September 2025.
