Are Far-Left Kentucky Democrats Covering for a Politically Correct Killer?

Documents and police records suggest Democrat politicians may have let an alleged murderer off the hook because of the color of her victim’s skin 

Elections have consequences. For one Kentucky family, woke ideology may have meant the difference between receiving justice for their murdered son—or a criminal cover-up by Democrat politicians.

On May 14, 2023—Mother’s Day—Trent “TJ” Taylor, Jr., who is white, stopped by the busy animal clinic where he worked in Shively, a town of 15,000 people just south of Louisville, to visit and help out his mom on his day off. Little did he know, TJ’s decision probably saved lives but cost him his own.

The Evidence

At 6:26 p.m., a black, female customer (whom we will leave unnamed) entered the clinic with her wife and angrily demanded staff hand over her dog while reportedly refusing to pay.

Witness statements conflict on some points, but they all agree she was angry, yelling, swearing, and aggressive. One witness said the shooter proclaimed, “if you don’t get my baby I will start shooting,” and “if anyone touches me, I’ll shoot them.”

Video shows the woman leaving the client waiting area and going into staff spaces to confront them while her wife tried to pull her away and calm her down. TJ’s mom came out to talk to the woman and they began to argue.  Multiple witnesses said staff told the shooter numerous times to leave but she refused.

The shooter then lunged at TJ’s mom. TJ, who at this point was behind the shooter watching his mom being threatened, smacked the shooter on the head with his open hand and she turned around and pursued him as he ran out the clinic’s front door.

Clinic footage shows what happened next. The woman brandished a pistol from her purse and racked it as TJ was standing immediately outside the glass door. The shooter held up her gun where TJ could see it. He retreated and the shooter turned back toward TJ’s mom and then put the gun back in her purse. The shooter’s wife then pushed TJ’s mom and started yelling at her. TJ came back inside and tried to knock the purse away from the shooter. One witness indicated that TJ was trying to protect his mom and the staff because he knew the shooter had a gun.

When the shooter followed TJ outside, he threw a traffic cone at her as his only clear method of self-defense. The cone didn’t hinder the shooter or her wife, and the wife then lunged after TJ and they began to fight with each other for a few seconds. Then the shooter shot TJ in the chest at close range.

The wife was still standing when TJ was shot. TJ fell backwards into a sitting position and the wife was standing over him. As TJ lay on the ground, video shows the shooter leaning over him and grabbing something under his armpit. Only 22 seconds elapsed from the time TJ threw the cone to when the shooter pulled the trigger that killed TJ. One witness said she saw and heard the shooter continue to yell at TJ and those around him after she shot him and he was on the ground.

A separate recording from before the shooting picked up the shooter’s wife angrily yelling multiple times, prior to chasing TJ outside, most likely directed at TJ’s mom: “Your kid made a decision, your kid made a decision.” The shooter followed behind and pulled the gun out of her purse for the second time. It appears the shooter’s wife intended to confront TJ at this point, who was likely aware the shooter had a gun, as one witness reported to police that the shooter’s wife asked TJ, “Do you want to fight?”

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Authorities Arrive & Questions Arise

Then the tragic situation got even stranger, with the black female mayor of Shively Maria Johnson quickly appearing on the scene just minutes after TJ was shot, right after police arrived, asking questions. It’s unclear how she was alerted of the killing.

Restoration News has carefully reviewed hours of police body cam recordings, videos from the clinic, witness videos and hundreds of pages of witness statements and reports. Collectively they raise questions as to whether police failed to follow procedures in interviewing witnesses or surveying the crime scene.

When the police arrived, they handcuffed both the shooter and her wife and put them in separate police vehicles as shown on body cam footage. A detective states on body cam footage that he was going to talk to mayor Johnson and the media but turns his body cam off prior to his conversation with them.

A superior instructed a police officer, who was a black woman, to separate witnesses and interview them. The officer proceeded to interview two witnesses, (a black couple) together and didn’t separate them as instructed by her superior.

The officer asked these witnesses a few questions before discussing where they went to high school. The male witness asked the officer if her job was fun and then asked, “Y’all need new people?” The officer indicated they are always hiring and encouraged him to apply and then said, “We need some of us to come over,” likely referring to their ethnicity. The officer continued to interview other witnesses as they all talked together in a group rather than separating them to get individual statements as she was instructed to do.

As the shooter sat in the back of the patrol car, body cam records her saying: “All about a damn dog.” The detectives did not document this statement as an admission that she shot TJ over a dog in any of their reports.

Another oddity: Police records show that 8 witnesses were never interviewed.

The day after the shooting, police told the media they believe the shooting could have been in self-defense. Why would the police make such a comment so early about an ongoing investigation, especially when numerous witnesses had not yet been interviewed?

Oddity 2: Police body cam recorded the shooter admitting to a detective that there was marijuana in her car. She further stated, “there is also cash that is not trafficking.” The detective responds that he wasn’t “worried about that.”

One witness reported smelling marijuana coming from the shooter and her wife. Yet there is no indication that the shooter or her wife were charged with any drug-related offenses, nor were they tested for drugs. You can also clearly see on an officer’s body cam what appears to be a bottle of liquor on the floor of the car’s back seat.

Neither are marijuana and the cash even mentioned in the police report or the search warrant issued for the shooter’s vehicle.

Why does that matter? In Kentucky, possession of marijuana and a firearm can enhance a crime to a felony punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

Prosecutors Won’t Press Charges. Why?

On June 21, 2023, Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerina Whethers announced that her office would not issue an indictment for the suspect in custody, who also claimed self-defense for the killing (as police had earlier suggested).

In her press release, Whethers says she requested “that the Grand Jury make a decision regarding whether to issue an indictment after a comprehensive review of Kentucky law and the evidence in the investigation.”

TJ’s father, Trent, told Restoration News that the grand jury was only presented with part of the evidence and some of the video evidence was excluded. Whethers, of course, was responsible for all the evidence that was ultimately presented to the grand jury.

Whethers, a Democrat who is also a black woman, was appointed 2 weeks prior to the May 2023 murder by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) following her predecessor’s death. Notably, Whethers had never prosecuted a criminal offense prior to being appointed to the prosecutorial position.

Whethers quickly made media headlines for being the first black woman to be nominated Commonwealth’s Attorney. In one interview, she bragged that she would have been excited for anyone to get the position “who might look like me.” Whethers is also supported by the Fairness Campaign, a far-left LGBT activist organization in Kentucky. This radical group advocates against the “over-policing of black and brown people.”

Upon taking office, Whethers claimed that addressing gun violence and victim services was a priority. So why won’t she seek justice for TJ’s family?

Self-Defense or Murder?

Was TJ shot in self-defense, as Whethers and police claim?

Video and witness statements are clear that the shooter was the aggressor and that her wife went after TJ, intending to fight. A very valid argument could be made that TJ, not the killer, was acting in self-defense when he was threatened with her gun.

Kentucky’s Stand Your Ground law KRS 503.055 (3) typically applies to a person’s dwelling or vehicle, but also has a broader provision:

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another . . . [emphasis added].

This suggests the shooting was not protected by the state’s Stand Your Ground law because the shooter was engaging in unlawful activities—marijuana possession and making threatening statements—and did not have a right to be present in the animal clinic.

Recall that the shooter admitted to possessing a Schedule I drug illegal in Kentucky and was told by staff to leave the clinic and to not enter certain employee areas. She could have been trespassing since she refused to leave and forced her way into unauthorized areas.

The police report also lists one spent bullet casing and one live round discovered on the scene, supporting the notion that the shooter did rack her gun twice even though she told police she only pulled out her gun once.

In the documents provided to Restoration News by TJ’s father, it appears the shooter used hollow point rounds, which are prohibited under Kentucky law, according to the left-wing gun control group Giffords.

The shooter also claimed she has PTSD and other emotional and mental health issues and that her dog is an emotional support animal. However, there is no indication that her pit bull is a registered service dog. If the shooter has mental health issues, should she have been carrying a firearm?

Trent also told Restoration News that he requested the body cam footage of the officer who drove the shooter to the police station. It was the same officer who made the racist statement. The audio is not able to be heard on the video despite Trent asking multiple times for the audio version. Are they hiding something?

Justice for TJ

The grief that TJ’s family experiences daily can be overwhelming, his father, Trent, told me. It’s the first thing on his mind when he wakes up, knowing that TJ’s killer received no punishment. But Trent hasn’t given up and continues to fight for justice on behalf of TJ’s daughter, who was born just a few months after he was killed. The daughter also lost her mother who died in childbirth and is now being raised by TJ’s parents.

TJ, a white male, is a minority in the city of Shively which has a population that is 53 percent black and 39 percent white. Did race play a factor in decisions that were made?

Based on the above evidence, Trent believes politically correct ideology played a role in covering for TJ’s murder.

Why were police so quick to claim the shooter acted in self-defense? Did identity politics play a role in the CA not pressing charges? We’re asking the same questions.

Kentucky law permits the Attorney General to intervene or direct criminal proceedings on request of the Governor, President of the Senate, or Speaker of the House of Representatives. The Attorney General, according to the law:

may intervene, participate in, or direct any investigation or criminal action . . . necessary to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth. (2) The Attorney General may subpoena witnesses, secure testimony under oath for use in civil or criminal trials, investigations or hearings affecting the Commonwealth, its departments or political subdivisions.

TJ’s father Trent is calling on Gov. Beshear, Senate President Robert Stivers, and Speaker David Osborne to request that the Attorney General intervene in this case.

That should also include a full investigation into the actions of the police department and Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerina Whethers. The Attorney General should advocate for the laws of the Commonwealth of Kentucky to be enforced so that justice is served for the death of TJ Taylor and hold his shooter accountable.

We’ve also posted a list of discrepancies involving TJ’s tragic killing assembled by a private investigator below:

List-of-Discrepancies-TJs-murder-v2