In the early hours of a cold Tuesday morning in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 10, 2019, the life of 23-year-old Damontrial Daquan Fulgham was tragically cut short. A Black male, Damontrial was a father and was remembered by loved ones as a loving, goofy, and protective man with a beautiful smile. That night, however, he became a victim of gun violence during a robbery on Osage Court.
Police responded to reports of shots fired at approximately 1:15 a.m.
and discovered two individuals with gunshot wounds. Damontrial was pronounced dead at the scene, while another man was transported to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. The investigation into the double shooting soon pointed to a violent robbery involving multiple suspects. About an hour and a half before the fatal shooting on Osage Court, another man had been shot in the leg during a robbery in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Red Mile Court, an incident later connected to the same group of individuals.
The subsequent police investigation led to the identification and arrest of four suspects. John Boulder IV, Jo'Qwan Jackson, Javari Butler, and Andre Tennial Hilliard were all charged in connection with Damontrial's death. Hilliard was a minor at the time of the shooting. Evidence gathered by detectives included a backpack belonging to Fulgham found at the residence of one of the suspects, as well as electronic messages. Investigators also located a vehicle that was stolen from one of the victims and later burned.
In the end, none of the accused were convicted of murder. After entering into plea agreements, John Boulder IV, Jo'Qwan Jackson, and Javari Butler pleaded guilty to amended charges of first-degree manslaughter, second-degree robbery, second-degree assault, and tampering with physical evidence. Each was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Andre Hilliard, who was 17 at the time of the crime, pleaded guilty to charges of facilitating a robbery and assault, and tampering with evidence, receiving a sentence of five years of supervised probation. It was also noted that Boulder, Jackson, and Butler are implicated in an ongoing case involving participation in an organized crime syndicate.
