On the morning of December 18, 2014, multiple gunshots were reported at the Augusta Arms apartment complex in Lexington, Kentucky. Officers who responded around 9:30 a.m. found 30-year-old Joseph Ramone Parker of nearby Versailles lying wounded outside one of the buildings. He was taken to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital and later died; an autopsy confirmed multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide. Parker had worked in lawncare and was survived by his parents, brother, and grandmothers.

Investigators quickly focused on a single suspect. The day after the shooting a murder arrest warrant was issued for 21-year-old Jevon D. Magee. A witness reported seeing Parker and Magee in a physical altercation, then seeing Magee shoot Parker at point-blank range and leave the scene with his sister, who lived at Augusta Arms. That witness later identified Magee in a photo lineup. Magee was arrested in April 2015 by the U.S. Marshals Task Force and Lexington Robbery Homicide detectives.

Court filings and testimony describe the confrontation as a drug deal gone bad. A plea to an amended charge of first-degree manslaughter, along with weapons and habitual-offender allegations, and a subsequent 20-year sentence are part of the case history. Does anyone have additional information about Joseph Parker’s life or the Augusta Arms neighborhood that could shed light on what led to that morning?