A Louisville man will spend decades behind bars after killing two people on New Year's Eve in 2020.
Jefferson County Judge Mitch Perry handed 27-year-old Mahlon Harris a life sentence with the possibility of parole for the shooting death of Antonia Lucas, 21, and Daniel Key Jr., 23. After a two-week trial, Harris was found guilty and convicted of two counts of murder, one count of a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, and one count of a persistent felony offender in the second degree.
During the wee hours on Dec. 31, 2020, authorities responded to the 700 Block of Lampton Street in the Smoketown neighborhood, where they found the bodies of Lucas and Key in a car with gunshot wounds.
Despite the murder weapon never being found, investigators linked the defendant to the crime scene with cell phone records, shell casings, and a DNA match to Harris. Furthermore, authorities connected Key’s phone to a number used by Harris during a domestic violence dispute prior to the fatal incident.
Harris maintained his innocence, stating that the authorities had arrested the wrong person.
”I feel sorry for the victims and their families. I also just like- I’m going through a lot myself, and I mean, I am an innocent person, to be honest. I know that you all are grieving all this and the case- I mean, to be honest, the real killer is still on the streets,” said Harris during the sentencing hearing, according to WAVE.
Prosecutors recommended to the court that the defendant be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Instead, Harris will be eligible for parole after 25 years in prison.
The victim’s family was unhappy with the ruling.
“I believe because it's two life sentences without the possibility of parole for 25 years. And I truly believe the jury thought that they would give him 50 years without the possibility of parole, because they came back and asked a question, and the judge could not answer that question. So I think that that is a problem in itself and needs to be changed within the justice system," said Lucas’s mother, Jawanna Godsey, reported WLKY.
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