In the winter of 2014, a young man's life was cut short in a burst of violence that echoed through a Lexington, Kentucky shopping center. Vincenzo Happy, a 23-year-old male, was fatally shot on the afternoon of Sunday, February 9, 2014. He was inside his car on Lima Drive when as many as a dozen shots were fired, striking both him and his vehicle. The car, a black Chevrolet Monte Carlo, then rolled into a pile of snow.
Happy was rushed to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly before 2:30 p.m.
The investigation into the shooting led Lexington police to identify two suspects in the killing. Jayronn Montero Nickerson, who was 22 at the time and known by the street name 'Project,' was identified by a witness as the individual who fired into Happy's car. An arrest warrant was issued, and Nickerson was later apprehended in Michigan in May by the U.S. Marshals Service. He was subsequently indicted on charges of murder and being a persistent felony offender.
A second man, 20-year-old Lamarius Gates, was also implicated in the crime. In July 2014, Gates was charged with complicity to commit murder, with court documents alleging he was an 'active participant in the shooting.' Both Nickerson and Gates entered pleas of not guilty to the charges brought against them. At the time of their arraignments, both men were being held in the Fayette County Detention Center.
