In the early evening of a Tuesday in the Newburg neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky, a young man's life was cut short in a violent encounter. Carlos M. Catalan, a 23-year-old male, was shot and killed on January 15, 2019. The incident unfolded inside a vehicle on Pixley Way, just off Poplar Level Road, in what police believe was an attempted robbery connected to a drug transaction.
Responding to a call at approximately 6:30 p.m., officers discovered Catalan inside the car with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to University Hospital, but his injuries proved fatal, and he was pronounced dead shortly before 7:30 p.m. An autopsy later confirmed that a single gunshot wound was the cause of his death. Witnesses at the scene described the frantic cries of Catalan's girlfriend, who was present during the altercation and told police that the suspects had tried to rob him. One neighbor, a certified nursing assistant, attempted to render aid by compressing the wound while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
The investigation into Catalan's death led to a swift arrest. Tayshon Caudell, who was 18 years old at the time, was taken into custody in connection with the homicide. Remarkably, Caudell was on home incarceration for a previous shooting and was wearing a GPS tracker that placed him at the scene of the crime. According to police reports, Caudell admitted to his involvement during a Mirandized statement. He detailed a plan with another individual to purchase less than a pound of marijuana from Catalan using counterfeit money. Another witness stated that the suspects produced a firearm and attempted to rob Catalan, during which he was shot.
A second suspect, 19-year-old Dwjuan Goodman, was also arrested and charged in connection with the murder. Police say Caudell implicated Goodman in the crime. Goodman later turned himself in to the authorities. Both Caudell and Goodman faced multiple charges, including murder, robbery, and drug trafficking. Caudell was also charged with tampering with physical evidence. Despite the arrests, police indicated that the gun used in the shooting was not recovered at the scene. Authorities had also suggested that additional arrests were anticipated in the case.
