In the winter of 2015, the life of 26-year-old Denny Scott Kincaid was tragically cut short in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. On the evening of Saturday, January 24th, Kincaid was found in an alley in the 2700 block of Alford Avenue in the Portland neighborhood. He had sustained some form of trauma and was rushed to the University of Louisville Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:39 p.m. The Jefferson County Deputy Coroner's office later confirmed his identity.
The Louisville Metro Police Department quickly launched a homicide investigation into Kincaid's death. Their efforts led to an arrest just three days later, on Tuesday, January 27th. A 17-year-old white male was taken into custody in an alley off Alford Avenue without incident and was subsequently charged with the murder of Denny Kincaid.
Further investigation into the case revealed the identities of two other individuals believed to be involved in Kincaid's death: Nicholas Espinoza and Ketrick Ballanger, both 18 years old at the time. They were also charged with Kincaid's murder. According to investigators, the motive for the crime appeared to be robbery. Details that emerged suggested that Kincaid was a friend of Espinoza's and that the three had been driving around together, drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana, with plans to go to the movies later that night.
During police interrogations, conflicting stories emerged from the two older suspects. Ballanger eventually implicated Espinoza as the one who shot Kincaid, who was found to have a gunshot wound to the chest. Espinoza, however, denied any involvement, claiming that Ballanger had dropped him off at his house before the shooting occurred. Investigators confronted Espinoza with home surveillance video that allegedly showed him in the alley where Kincaid's body was discovered. Despite the evidence presented to them, both suspects initially attempted to blame a third, possibly fabricated, individual for the shooting.
