LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Police are still searching for the person who killed a man Tuesday night on Cambridge Drive. The coroner identified 30-year-old Deonte Logan, who was shot around 5 p.m. and died at the hospital.
The homicide had a personal feel for councilmember Jennifer Reynolds, District 11 because it happened in her district.
“It’s jarring, it’s heartbreaking,” Reynolds said. “Last night’s shooting really hit close to home. There’s been several shootings that have been a little more personal, and I think we always feel a little more affected by violence and gun violence when it is personal.”
Reynolds started a citywide gun violence task force nearly a year ago to find a solution to the shootings. Some of their recommendations have included:
- Defining gun violence as a "public health crisis"
- Expanding access to community centers
- Funding counseling for families impacted by gun violence
- Creating a grant for victim services for those affected by gun violence
“My job as an elected official is to say, how can we do better? Is there anything we can do to fix it,” said Reynolds. “We’re saying, we want our community to be as safe as possible, and we want everybody who’s been affected by gun violence to have the most resources as possible.”
Two years ago, Lexington had 32 homicides by September 4. By this time last year, that number had been cut in half to 15. Right now, we’re at 11 murders so far this year. Reynolds hopes that further action will continue to bring that number down, hopefully hitting zero.
“In this country, we have a lot more instances of gun violence than quite a few other developed countries,” she said, “so we have to keep it at the forefront whether we have 11 homicides, whether we have 20 homicides, whether we have 40, because we still have them.”
The task force met again last night, and they will present further refined recommendations to the council in October
“We just have to keep working until we don’t have any gun violence,” Reynolds said.
