In the early morning hours of January 7, 2019, Richard Harper, an 18-year-old male, was shot and killed at a bus stop near Shawnee Park on 43rd Street in Louisville, Kentucky. A senior at Valley High School, he was on his way to school at the time of the incident. Emergency responders transported him to University of Louisville Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. He was the father of a young son.
Seven months after the shooting, in August 2019, a suspect was arrested in Ohio.
The individual arrested was 17-year-old Daryl Horton, who was known to have been a friend of Harper's at one point. Horton was charged as an adult with the murder of Richard Harper and, in September 2019, entered a plea of not guilty. According to Harper's mother, the motive for the shooting was reportedly a dispute over a girl.
The death of Richard, who was known to his loved ones as 'Dookie,' was not the first tragedy to strike his family. His father, the stepfather of his mother Nicole Cowherd, Charles Cowherd, was also a victim of homicide in Louisville in 2016. His mother has since become a vocal advocate against gun violence in the community, speaking out about the devastating impact it has had on her family.
