LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18)– The jury has found a man accused of shooting a girl in 2017 guilty on multiple charges.
The victim, Amaya Catching, was left paralyzed from the shooting. She was 11-years-old at the time.
Carlos Jenkins was found guilty of assault, wanton endangerment, and evidence tampering related to that night. He was accused of firing off multiple gunshots in June of 2017, one of which pierced the window Catching was sitting near.
The bullet hit her spine, paralyzing her from the waist down.
Thursday morning’s testimony focused on three witnesses: a ballistics expert, a detective, and an ex-girlfriend of Carlos Jenkins. She said they were dating at the time of the shooting.
She said that Jenkins did not threaten her.
After more than four hours, the jury returned a guilty verdict.
The trial then moved on to the sentencing phase. Amaya’s father and two friends took the stand to talk about how the shooting affected them.
Around 10:30 p.m. the jury recommended a sentence of life plus 50 years for Jenkins.
They arrived at this number after finding Perkins guilty of being a Persistent Felony Offender, which upgraded the sentencing recommendations. The jury’s initial recommendations were 20 years for the assault charge and five for each of the other nine counts. However, because they found him guilty of being a PFO, everything was upgraded.
Final sentencing is expected to take place at 1 p.m. April 12.
