On a Sunday evening in Lexington, Kentucky, on May 7, 2017, the life of 26-year-old Jordan Tyler Yeast was tragically cut short. Yeast, a Black male, was discovered inside a vehicle on Lakeshore Drive, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds. The initial call to police reported shots fired, and upon arrival, they found Yeast, whom they were unable to save. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the time of his death, Yeast was a self-employed roofer and gutter repairman and a father to two sons.
The investigation into Yeast's death quickly led authorities to a suspect, Courtney Darnell Kidd. Believed to have known Yeast, Kidd was identified through witness interviews and evidence gathered at the scene. An arrest warrant was issued for Kidd on charges of murder and robbery. After a period on the run, he was apprehended in Michigan on June 27, 2017, and extradited back to Lexington to face the charges against him.
Courtney Kidd's trial revealed the motive behind the fatal encounter. Prosecutors stated that Kidd had provided Yeast with 19 pills, purported to be Percocet, to sell. However, Yeast's girlfriend testified that the pills were fake and that Yeast had disposed of them. Kidd made multiple calls to Yeast demanding payment for the pills. The situation escalated when Kidd confronted Yeast in the parking lot of a Lakeshore Drive apartment complex, demanding either the pills or his money. The entire brutal exchange was captured on surveillance video, which showed Kidd approaching Yeast's car, leaning in to speak with him, and then raising a handgun and firing at least six times.
The evidence presented during the trial was overwhelming. In addition to the murder of Jordan Yeast, Kidd was also charged with the attempted murder of Yeast's girlfriend, Courtney Bowen, who was present during the shooting. Kidd fired three shots in her direction as she fled the scene. In March 2020, a jury found Courtney Darnell Kidd guilty of the intentional murder of Jordan Yeast and the attempted murder of Courtney Bowen, though he was acquitted of the robbery charge. The conviction brought a measure of justice to the family and friends of Jordan Yeast, a young man whose life was violently ended over a dispute involving fake drugs.
