In May of 2020, a meeting arranged for the sale of a vehicle in Elizabethtown, Kentucky, took a tragic and violent turn, ending the life of 32-year-old Shawn Fox. Fox, along with his girlfriend, Kenia Thomas, and a friend, 37-year-old Michael B. Thomas, had traveled from Henderson with $9,000 in cash to purchase a car from a man named Taynandree Reed.
The group met on the afternoon of May 13 in the 100 block of Patterson Street.
After their arrival, Reed entered their Hyundai Elantra and made them wait for approximately 40 minutes under the pretense of waiting for his girlfriend. At one point, Fox and Reed both exited the vehicle. When Reed returned to the car alone, he brandished a handgun and shot Michael Thomas in the head. He then shot Shawn Fox in the head and neck, and proceeded to shoot Kenia Thomas as well.
When Elizabethtown police responded to the scene, they discovered both Shawn Fox and Michael B. Thomas deceased inside the car. Kenia Thomas, critically injured, was transported to the University of Louisville Hospital and survived the attack. Her testimony would prove crucial in the subsequent investigation and trial.
Eight days after the fatal shootings, police apprehended 29-year-old Taynandree Reed in Versailles as he was exiting a Kroger. He was charged with two counts of murder, first-degree assault, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, and being a second-degree persistent felony offender. The prosecution argued that Reed's motive was to steal the $9,000 Fox had brought for the vehicle purchase. In February 2022, a Hardin County jury found Taynandree Reed guilty on all charges. He was subsequently sentenced for his role in the double murder and assault.
