In the fading light of a Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Kentucky, on October 19, 2019, the life of 18-year-old Darrian Alexander Webb was violently cut short. He was a young Black man, a son to Courtney Boggs and DuQuoin Webb, and known as the 'First Born Prince' to his family. That day, he was a passenger in a car with two other teenagers when their vehicle was targeted in a brazen shooting at the intersection of Winchester Road and Seventh Street.
The attack was sudden and brutal.
A light-colored SUV pulled alongside their car, and a barrage of 37 shots was fired from three different calibers of weapons. The aftermath was devastating. Darrian Webb and another 18-year-old, Dwayne Slaughter, were rushed to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, but their injuries were too severe. Both young men were pronounced dead less than an hour after the shooting. A third teenager in the car was wounded but survived.
The investigation into the double homicide revealed a grim narrative of gang-related retaliation. Detectives testified that the shooting was a response to derogatory videos and posts Darrian Webb had allegedly made about a gang. This motive was pieced together through witness statements and an informant who told investigators that the suspects had been given guns with instructions to shoot at Webb and Slaughter if they were seen.
Within months, the Lexington Police Department made arrests. Four young men were charged in connection with the killings: De'Shaun Armor, John Boulder IV, Sevion Mitchell, and Kenneth Jakobe Jackson. The charges ranged from murder and assault to tampering with physical evidence. Investigators found that after the shooting, the suspects had disassembled and cleaned the firearms before shipping them out of state in an attempt to conceal their crimes.
In April 2022, all four men accepted plea deals for reduced charges. De'Shaun Armor and Kenneth Jackson pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter. Sevion Mitchell also pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter, while John Boulder IV, the driver of the SUV, pleaded guilty to two counts of facilitating murder. The sentences handed down in August 2022 ranged from seven to fourteen years in prison. As part of their sentencing, the four men were also ordered to collectively pay over $14,000 to cover the funeral costs for both Darrian Webb and Dwayne Slaughter.
