In the autumn of 2019, the life of 25-year-old Sharmaine Shardea Carter was tragically cut short in a Lexington, Kentucky, apartment. On the morning of October 16th, police received an anonymous tip about a potential shooting, leading them to the Crystal Gardens Apartments on Alexandria Drive. Inside a second-floor unit, they made a grim discovery: the bodies of Sharmaine and 24-year-old Marquis Dorell Harris.
Both had been fatally shot.
Investigators determined that Sharmaine and Marquis had likely been deceased for several hours before they were found in the kitchen of the apartment. The Fayette County coroner confirmed that both individuals were victims of homicide, each having sustained gunshot wounds to the chest and the back of the head. The initial investigation suggested a violent encounter had taken place, and the community was left seeking answers as to who was responsible for this double murder.
The subsequent investigation led authorities to a suspect with ties to Detroit, 43-year-old Antonio Tyree Gaskin. Evidence gathered by the Lexington police, including two latent fingerprints, surveillance footage from the apartment building, and witness information, pointed toward Gaskin's involvement. He was apprehended by U.S. Marshals on December 17, 2019, and charged with two counts of murder and one count of failing to report a death.
During legal proceedings, further details of the case emerged. A Lyft driver testified to having driven Harris from Detroit to Lexington on the night of the murders, noting that Gaskin was waiting for Harris upon his arrival. Surveillance video reportedly showed Harris and an individual believed to be Gaskin heading towards the apartment. Cellphone records placed Gaskin in Lexington on the night of the killings. During Gaskin's trial in July 2022, prosecutors presented a timeline suggesting Sharmaine was killed first, shortly before Harris arrived at the apartment. Despite the evidence presented, Gaskin's defense attorney argued that there were unanswered questions and a lack of certain forensic testing, creating reasonable doubt.
