By Jeremy Chisenhall, the Lexington Herald Leader
A 28-year-old man is dead after a fatal shooting in Lexington Sunday evening, according to Lexington police and the Fayette County coroner’s office.
The shooting was called into police at 7:09 p.m. Sunday, according to police Lt. Chris Van Brackel. Officers responded to the 1000 block of Pennebaker Drive to find Devante Bell injured after being shot. He was transported to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital but later died, according to the coroner’s office.
Brandon Carl Munford, 37, was arrested Sunday night and charged with murder and wanton endangerment, according to an arrest citation. A Lexington officer wrote in the arrest citation that Munford intentionally shot Bell, who was inside his vehicle at the time. Police later released that the shooting happened when an argument escalated to the point of shots being fired.
The shooting occurred right outside Munford’s home, according to court records. Munford, who was in his vehicle when he allegedly shot Bell, had a small child in the vehicle with him, according to the arrest citation. Munford was being held at the local jail pending his arraignment scheduled for Monday afternoon.
Munford wasn’t the only person detained after the shooting, according to police.
“We had some disorders break out and we arrested some people … at the scene as well,” Van Brackel said.
At least two people were being held in the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center Monday morning for alleged disorderly conduct at the scene of the shooting, according to jail records. One of those arrested threatened to “obtain a gun and shoot people” at the scene, according to an arrest citation filed by a Lexington officer.
Another suspect was detained over an alleged fight that broke out near the scene just a few minutes after the shooting happened, according to arrest records.
It was unclear if the shooting started as a disorder too. The initial call was for shots fired and police didn’t know what led up to it, Van Brackel said.
Bell’s death was ruled a homicide. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday morning. It was the second fatal shooting in Lexington Sunday, and occurred just hours after a fatal shooting on Alumni Drive. There wasn’t any reason to believe the shootings were connected as of Monday morning, Van Brackel said.
Bell’s death was also the fifth Lexington homicide in April and the 15th homicide in 2021. Lexington set a record for homicides in 2020 with 34.
Bell’s family created a GoFundMe page for funeral expenses. The GoFundMe page says Bell was a young father. The fund had raised about $3,500 as of Tuesday afternoon.
The increase in gun violence in Lexington has caused concern from BUILD (Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct-Action), a faith-based group made up of 26 member congregations in Lexington. The group addresses issues of poverty and injustice locally. Members from the group are hosting a “Stop the Violence” rally Tuesday evening.
“As Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church, I see that Lexington has a violence problem,” said Pastor Joseph Owens, a co-chair of BUILD. “This isn’t new. We have gangs. I have presided over the funerals of several young men who were shot and killed in Lexington over the last few years. My fellow clergy from around the city have also presided or attended some of these funerals.
“It is heartbreaking for the families. Parents shouldn’t be burying their children.”
The organization’s drive-in rally Tuesday will also feature a symbolic funeral processional through the city in solidarity with families who have lost loved ones to gun violence, according to a news release.
The rally was set to begin about 6 p.m. at Shiloh Baptist Church. Community members were invited to attend.
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