On the afternoon of February 23, 2015, emergency responders in Louisville, Kentucky, rushed to the scene of a chaotic traffic collision in the downtown area. A black vehicle, observed by witnesses weaving erratically through traffic, had disregarded a red light on Broadway between 9th and 10th Streets. The car collided head-on with a white pickup truck and impacted a third vehicle near the Transit Authority of River City's Union Station.
The driver of the black vehicle, Kedren Lee, sustained severe injuries from the impact and was pronounced dead at the scene by authorities.
While the incident initially appeared to be a fatal traffic accident, a subsequent investigation by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office revealed a more violent cause of death. Examinations determined that the 24-year-old Black male had suffered fatal gunshot wounds prior to the collision. Detectives concluded that Lee was attempting to drive himself to a hospital after being shot, losing consciousness or control of the vehicle as he succumbed to his injuries. The crash was ruled a secondary event to the homicide.
Investigators traced the shooting to the 600 block of South 16th Street, several blocks away from the crash site. The Louisville Metro Police Department questioned the driver of the third vehicle involved in the crash but did not identify him as a suspect in the shooting. Despite the public nature of the crash and the follow-up investigation, no suspects were publicly identified, and police reported no immediate arrests following the incident. The case was later listed among the department's open homicides for the year.
