In the early afternoon of a December day in Murray, Kentucky, the sound of a gunshot shattered the quiet. On December 21, 2020, deputies from the Calloway County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to a residence following a report of a shooting. Upon their arrival at approximately 12:30 p.m., they discovered 53-year-old Luis A. Mancilla Jr. suffering from a gunshot wound. He was a Black / African American male.
Emergency medical services were quick to the scene, transporting Mancilla to the Murray-Calloway County Hospital. Despite their efforts, his life could not be saved. At 1:33 p.m., Luis A. Mancilla Jr. was pronounced dead by the Calloway County Coroner, leaving a community in shock and a family to grapple with a sudden and violent loss.
The investigation into Mancilla's death was extensive, stretching from the final days of 2020 into the summer of the following year. Detectives with the Calloway County Sheriff's Office diligently pursued leads and gathered evidence. Their work eventually pointed them toward a suspect. In August of 2021, a breakthrough came in the case.
Forty-year-old Benjamin S. Jones was identified as the individual allegedly responsible for the fatal shooting of Mancilla. Following the presentation of evidence by investigators, a grand jury returned an indictment against Jones, formally charging him with murder. He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody, booked into the Calloway County Jail to await the legal proceedings that would follow. The motive for the shooting and the nature of the relationship between Mancilla and Jones were not publicly disclosed.
