The suspect allegedly involved in the June 1 Whitesville double homicide was transferred from juvenile to adult court on Oct. 23. Though the male suspect was a juvenile when three people were shot at a party — leaving two of them dead — he is now 18-years-old and was booked into the Daviess County Detention Center after appearing in District Court on Wednesday.
According to Daviess County Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Kuegel, the suspect’s name will be made public as soon as he appears before the judge in Circuit Court.
“His name won’t be released until he is arraigned by the Circuit Court judge and his indictment is read to him,” Kuegel said. “And that’s the same for all juveniles.”
While the Commonwealth Attorney and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office could not confirm the name of the suspect, Chase Simmons, 18, was booked into DCDC for murder and second-degree assault the same day as the Whitesville murder suspect appeared in court.
Daviess County Sheriff’s Office Detective Jared Spurrier said the next process for the suspect would involve presenting the case to the grand jury.
The shooting on Crisp Road killed Amarius Winstead, 16, and Jasper Brown, 18, while 19-year-old Tyler Glover was treated for gunshot wounds at Owensboro Health Regional Hospital and later released.
The suspect was arrested on June 4, and the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office charged him with two counts of murder and one count of first-degree assault. Since being arrested and charged, the suspect had been lodged in Bowling Green at the Warren County Juvenile Detention Center until Wednesday.
After the arrest, DCSO Sheriff Keith Cain held a press conference, where he nearly guaranteed the juvenile suspect would be tried as an adult.
“Make no mistake about it — this individual will be tried as an adult,” Cain said, adding that the juvenile would be sent to the grand jury for indictment. That hasn’t happened yet, but if the judge decides to transfer the case to Circuit Court and have the suspect tried as an adult, it very likely will.
The suspect is currently being held on a $2.5 million full cash bond.
