Multiple shooters were present in Lexington shooting that left 18-year-old dead, police say
There were multiple shooters in a Lexington homicide that left an 18-year-old man dead, a Lexington police detective testified Tuesday morning during a preliminary hearing.
The shooting happened in the early morning hours of April 4 at a home on the 400 block of Carlisle Avenue, police previously said. Dennis Trujillo Jr. was declared dead at the home from multiple gunshot wounds.
Wilmer Romero, 18, was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder.
Detective Corey Sutton with Lexington police’s robbery/homicide unit shared multiple pieces of evidence that connects Romero to the crime at Fayette District Court. Sutton said doorbell camera footage near the scene showed gunfire coming from a car, where multiple shooters were firing toward Trujillo.
Investigators obtained a video and picture Romero took from inside the vehicle the night of the murder, according to Sutton. The vehicle was reported stolen.
Sutton was not prepared to share any information on the other alleged shooters or who the vehicle was registered to during the hearing.
Most of the evidence was found just inside the door, where Trujillo was found shot. Court documents say investigators found a conversation between Trujillo and Romero that happened seconds to minutes before the shooting, and Romero asked where Trujillo was in a threatening manner.
Sutton said the conversation was hostile in nature and implied that a confrontation between the two was imminent.
The next day, Romero had a conversation with another person over Instagram stating he killed someone, according to Sutton. He also shared a photo of Trujillo, clarifying who he killed.
Romero and Trujillo’s phones were taken into evidence, according to Sutton.
Romero was interviewed for several hours after his arrest, according to Sutton. He initially claimed he was in Tennessee at the time of the murder, but later changed his statement to say he was in the neighborhood but not present during the shooting.
Romero was armed when he was arrested.
Fayette District Judge Lindsay Thurston found sufficient evidence in Romero’s case and sent it forward to a grand jury. Romero is being held at the Fayette County Detention Center without bond on the murder charge, according to jail records.
Members of Trujillo’s family were present for the hearing and asked for justice. Trujillo’s obituary says he is a graduate of Bryan Station High School.
There have been five homicides in Lexington this year. Only one other case includes an arrest while the other three are an ongoing investigation.
Murder suspect facing additional, unrelated charges
Romero is also facing charges of contempt of court, tampering with a prison monitoring device, violation of conditions of release, trafficking a controlled substance and trafficking marijuana, according to court records.
Court records show Romero was given the drug charges in November. A few days later Romero partially posted a $5,000 bond and was released from jail with the condition of wearing an ankle monitor.
On Feb. 6 the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Department of Correction received a strap tamper notification from Romero’s device, according to Cpl. Cassanda Cundiff, who was Romero’s case officer. Cundiff said she went to the last known location of Romero’s device and found it lying beside a dumpster in a parking lot at a medical supply store on Big Run Road.
Romero was indicted on the drug charges the day before he allegedly cut off his ankle monitoring device, according to court records.
Cundiff tried to contact Romero several times after receiving the notification but was unsuccessful. She said she had little communication with Romero while he was on ankle monitoring.
Romero was also unable to provide a sample for a drug test the same day he allegedly cut off his ankle monitor, according to court records.
Romero was arrested on Gold Rush Road, which is close to the parking lot where the tampered ankle monitor was found, according to Sutton.
Romero has a $10,000 bond for the contempt of court charge and a $3,000 bond for the tampering with prison monitoring device charge, according to court records.
