In the spring of 1986, a wave of violence shattered the city of Lexington, Kentucky, forever marking the lives of many. At the center of this tragedy was Virginia Kearns, a 45-year-old female. Her life, along with four others, was brutally cut short on April 23rd in a spree of violence that stunned the community. The day began with a disturbance call to the police, placed by Virginia herself, concerning two intoxicated women who were refusing to leave her apartment.
Though officers responded, they determined the women, LaFonda Fay Foster and Tina Marie Powell, were coherent and departed, unaware of the horrific events that would soon unfold.
Fueled by a volatile combination of alcohol and cocaine, Foster and Powell’s behavior escalated. They followed Virginia to a nearby drugstore after she left her apartment, and upon their return, the situation turned into a hostage crisis. They demanded money from Virginia's husband, Carlos, who wrote them a check. The nightmare deepened when two of Carlos's friends, Roger Keene and Theodore Sweet, arrived at the apartment, only to be taken captive along with the Kearns' and their housekeeper, Trudy Harrell. What followed was a terrifying ordeal as Foster, armed and erratic, drove her five captives around the city.
The violent spree reached its gruesome climax in a secluded field. There, under the cover of darkness, Virginia Kearns, her husband Carlos, and Trudy Harrell were shot, stabbed, and run over with a car. The perpetrators, LaFonda Fay Foster and Tina Marie Powell, were apprehended the following day. Their subsequent trial revealed the shocking and senseless nature of their crimes, attributing the rampage to their drug and alcohol-fueled state. Both women were found guilty on five counts of first-degree murder.
For her role as the primary instigator, LaFonda Fay Foster was initially sentenced to death, a rare sentence for a woman in Kentucky's history. This was later commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Tina Marie Powell received a life sentence. The brutal and senseless loss of Virginia Kearns and the other four victims left an indelible scar on the Lexington community, a tragic reminder of a day when unchecked violence spiraled into an unimaginable catastrophe.
