LEXINGTON KY. (LEX 18) — The court heard testimony this morning during the pretrial hearing for the three men charged in connection to the shooting death of Michael Yocum last weekend inside the Short Street parking garage.
Juan Linares is charged with murder, while two other men, Oziel Saucedo-Salagado and his brother, Humberto have been charged with assault for allegedly severely beating another man.
During testimony on Friday morning, Detective Blake Woodward said Lexington police recovered a shell casing that likely matched the gun they later found at Linares’ home. They also obtained surveillance footage from the garage and recorded statements from the suspects.
“Mr. Linares walked over to Mr. Yocum and shot him one time,” Woodward testified in district court of what he saw on the surveillance video. Mr. Yocum’s death is the seventh in 2022 to have been ruled a homicide by Lexington police. Last year the city set a record with 37 and downtown store owner, Zach Monk has seen enough.
“Lexington typically isn’t a place where I think of two murders happening in the same garage,” Monk said of the Short Street garage, where two other homicides took place in 2021. “As busy as it’s about to start getting with people getting out of their houses again, I think it could be dangerous concoction of attitudes and alcohol all mixed together,” he said.
Monk is the general manager of On the Rocks Liquor just across from the Short Street garage. He also said the open-air lot next to his store has become a hot spot for violent activity. It’s why he was grateful to learn that LexPark will be paying to staff the area with Fayette County Sheriff’s Deputies beginning Friday night.
“Peace of mind definitely for me, and I know my fellow business owners, and for anyone who wants to come downtown and enjoy themselves,” he said. “It’s getting to a point where we need the extra help we’ll be getting today,” he added.
Sadly, that’s one week too late for Mr. Yocum and the assault victim who police say was beaten so severely he had to be intubated, and the full extent of his injuries is still unknown.
Yocum’s friends and family attended today’s hearing while wearing t-shirts with his image on them, with the words; “RIP, Mikey.” All three cases were waived to the county grand jury.
