A Lexington woman has been charged with murder in connection with a shooting in october that left a 33-year-old woman dead, according to Lexington police.
Courtney Young, 32, was charged Tuesday with murder, tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon after she allegedly shot and killed 33-year-old Nicole Morton, police said.
Young has been jailed at the Fayette County Detention Center since Oct. 27 on unrelated warrants, police said. Young allegedly shot Morton two days earlier.
On October 25, Lexington police were called to the 700 block of Maple Avenue at approximately 4 a.m. for reports of gunshots, according to Lt. Joe Anderson of the Lexington Police Department. When officers arrived, they found Morton with a gunshot wound inside a home.
Morton was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lexington Fire Department, according to Anderson. No suspicious information was provided at the time of the shooting.
Young lived near where the shooting occurred, according to court records.
Lexington shooting victim was a mother and military veteran
Morton he graduated from East Jessamine High School and briefly attended Asbury College on a basketball scholarship, according to his obituary. She was also a military veteran who served as a munitions specialist in Afghanistan and El Paso, Texas. She joined the US Army in 2009.
During his military career, Morton earned the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Service Abroad Medal and the NATO Medal, according to his obituary.
Morton loved to ride and tend horses on his family farm, according to his obituary. He left three children.
“Nicole suffered from addiction for much of the last decade of her life, and even during her most difficult times, she considered her children to be her greatest achievements,” her obituary reads.
Lexington police have already made arrests on 28 of 44 homicide cases last year.