In the early morning hours of June 23, 2020, a violent encounter outside a Motel 6 on Newtown Court in Lexington, Kentucky, claimed the life of 40-year-old James Adroiunt White, a Black/African American male. The incident unfolded around 9:20 a.m., when police responded to reports of a shooting. Upon arrival, they discovered White with a gunshot wound to his thigh.
Investigators, who happened to be in the vicinity on an unrelated matter, were able to render immediate aid by applying a tourniquet, an action that likely prevented him from dying at the scene. Despite these efforts, White was transported to the University of Kentucky Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries just over an hour later. His death was officially ruled a homicide.
The subsequent investigation by the Lexington Police Department led them to identify suspects in the shooting. Witnesses at the scene reported seeing a man with a handgun attempting to rob White of his cash. The investigation pointed to Dontate Lamont Burruss as the individual who shot White as he was getting out of an SUV. Burruss then reportedly fled the scene in the same vehicle. In the course of their investigation, police also identified a woman, Darica Lynem, as a person of interest who was believed to have been in the SUV with White and Burruss.
On July 28, 2020, just over a month after the fatal shooting, authorities located and arrested 46-year-old Dontate Burruss. He was subsequently charged with murder and first-degree robbery. While he was in custody, the charges against Darica Lynem were dismissed without prejudice in November 2020. Burruss initially claimed that he shot White in self-defense. However, in January 2022, he accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. As part of the agreement, the robbery charge against him was dismissed. His attorney stated in court that Burruss had been remorseful about the incident since it occurred and accepted responsibility for his actions.
