4 men sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to shooting that left 18-year-olds dead

Taylor Six
WKYT, the Herald-Leader's reporting partner.

What you need to know: Four defendants charged with murder and other offenses were sentenced after pleading guilty to a shooting that left two 18-year-olds, Dwayne Slaughter and Darrian Webb, dead in 2019.

  • Prosecutors alleged that Lexington gang members planned to harm the victims because they made “disparaging remarks” about a dead gang member.

  • Three of the four suspects in this case are charged with being part of an organized criminal syndicate that operates in Lexington.

The defendants: Sevion Mitchell, Deshaun Armor, John Boulder IV and Kenneth Jackson

  • All of the defendants accepted plea deals with the Commonwealth Attorney’s office on amended charges following a felony mediation.

  • Mitchell and Boulder attempted to withdraw their guilty pleas at a hearing in June.

A quick timeline: The four were arrested in October 2019 after they pulled up behind a vehicle occupied by the victims and fired 37 shots, according to court documents.

  • All four accepted plea deals for reduced charges in April 2022.

  • The first sentencing was scheduled June but two defendants attempted to change their guilty pleas.

  • A hearing was held on July 26 to discuss the motions to withdraw. Both motions were overruled by Judge Thomas Travis on July 27.

  • All four suspects were sentenced Thursday.

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Four men were sentenced to years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty for a shooting that happened in the middle of a Lexington intersection more than three years ago and left two 18-year-olds dead.

De’Shaun Armor, Sevion Mitchell and Kenneth Jakobe Jackson and John Boulder IV all pleaded guilty to reduced charges in April for the deaths of two 18-year-olds. The four men were charged with more severe offenses than what they pleaded guilty to following a shooting that left Dwayne Slaughter and Darrian Webb dead.

The shooting happened in October 2019, when the four suspects were in a car driven by Boulder and pulled up behind the victims at the intersection of Winchester Road and Seventh Street, according to court records. The suspects opened fire, shooting 37 times and leaving the two teenagers dead, according to court records.

Prosecutors wrote in court records that the shooting was a gang retaliation after disparaging remarks were made about a dead gang member.

All of the defendants accepted plea deals, which resulted in a range of sentences handed down to them by Judge Thomas Travis on Thursday afternoon.

Armor was sentenced to 14 years after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter, with the other charges of assault, criminal mischief, tampering with physical evidence and wanton endangerment being dismissed. He was sentenced to seven years for each manslaughter charge and his sentences will run consecutively. He was credited for more than two and a half years of time already served.

Jackson was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced for seven years on one conviction, and five years on the other conviction, which also carries a concurrent sentence of two years.

Jackson entered an “Alford Plea,” meaning he doesn’t admit guilt, but agrees there is enough evidence that a jury could find him guilty. The remaining charges he faced were dismissed. Jackson was credited for just over two years of time already served

Armor and Jackson were originally charged with two counts of murder, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief, tampering with physical evidence, and first-degree wanton endangerment.

Mitchell was sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to seven years on each conviction, and his sentences were set to run consecutively. He was credited for more than two and a half years of time already spent in jail.

Mitchell was originally charged with murder, first-degree assault, first-degree criminal mischief, evidence tampering and wanton endangerment.

Boulder was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of facilitating murder. He was given five years for one count and two years for the second count. He had also been charged with facilitating murder, evidence tampering, facilitating assault, facilitating wanton endangerment and facilitating criminal mischief, but those additional charges were dropped.

All four defendants will be jointly responsible for paying $14,771 in funeral costs for both victims. None of the defendants gave a statement to the court or the victims’ families when they were sentenced Thursday.

Criminal syndicate charges still pending against 3 of the suspects

Boulder, Mitchell and Jackson are among 14 people who have been indicted and accused of participating in organized crime, according to court records. Prosecutors allege that the defendants in the case are part of a gang that traffics drugs and is commits violent crimes. Armor has not been criminally connected to the gang.

The criminal syndicate case is continuing with hearings scheduled to take place in September and October.

Prosecutors wrote in court records that a “cooperating individual” accused all four shooting suspects of being involved in a gang, and told investigators that the suspects had been given guns and instructed to shoot at Slaughter and Webb if they saw them.

Following the shooting, the gang members disassembled the guns, cleaned them and shipped them out of the state, according to court records.

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