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A Louisville man was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of his father and his 3-year-old daughter, but his double murder conviction has been thrown out by a court. Kentucky Supreme Court.
Kevon Lawless was convicted in 2022 of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Brandon Waddles and his daughter, Trinity Randolph, in front of their home in August 2020.
His conviction was thrown out Thursday after the court ruled that the trial judge should have declared a mistrial when a juror learned that a witness had been accused of perjury during the proceedings.
Prosecutors said Friday they would seek a retrial in the case.
On August 14, 2020, a girlfriend of Lawless, who was 17 at the time, lured Waddles outside her home where Lawless was waiting and opened fire on him and his daughter. According to court records.
During the trial, exhibits were presented by the prosecution that provided evidence of how the murders were “arranged” and that Lawless had a “motivation for revenge against the Waddles”, according to court documents.
According to the court, the man who led Lawless to the shooting was charged with perjury when testifying at Lawless’s trial.
During deliberations, jurors sent a note to Circuit Judge Mackey Chauvin revealing that they knew the man had been arrested for “lying on the stand”, and one juror said they “could no longer make a decision truthfully.”
Chauvin rejected a motion from Lawless’ attorneys seeking a mistrial, but one juror was replaced by an alternate. Lawless was later convicted of two counts of murder and one count of theft.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The high court said Chauvin “committed reversible error by denying Lawless’s motion for a mistrial after the jury learned the trial court had arrested a witness for perjury.”
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said he was “committed to bringing the Trinity killer to justice.”
“The murder of 3-year-old Trinity Randolph is personal to me. I stood with her mother over her Disney ‘Frozen’ coffin and I will never forget the princess shoes she wore,” Coleman said in a statement Friday. “It is heartbreaking that his family and this community are forced to relive that terrible day and painful ordeal.”
Lawless remained in jail Friday, according to online records.
State corrections records show he has previous convictions for attempted murder and assault.
The Associated Press contributed reporting.