NKyTribune staff
Kenton Circuit Court Judge Gregory Bartlett followed the recommendation of the jury and sentenced Lamont Johnson to Life In Prison for the strangulation murder of Trina Coleman on November 1, 2016 in Taylor Mill.
Johnson
The case was investigated by Taylor Mill Police Detective Cyrus Harris and prosecuted by Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders and Asst. Commonwealth’s Attorney Joseph Hill.
For details of the events that led to Johnson’s arrest and conviction, click here. https://nkytribune.com/2018/02/sanders-provides-details-that-led-to-conviction-in-taylor-mills-first-homicide-in-30-plus-years/
The homicide was the first in Taylor Mill in at least 30 years.
Coleman met Johnson in 2016 and the two began dating.
In a statement outlining the case, Sanders said it wasn’t long before Coleman’s friends suspected she was being abused by Johnson. In August, she tried to end the relationship, but Johnson became enraged and began following Coleman.
Coleman obtained an Emergency Protective Order in Kenton County, but, Johnson was never served with the Order.
According to the report, the threats and abusive behavior and by October Coleman began staying with a friend to avoid Johnson, but stopped by her apartment on November 1. While talking to a friend on the phone, Coleman indicated Johnson was repeatedly trying to beep through.
That was the last time Coleman was heard from.
Friends began searching for Coleman and in the early morning of November 2, kicked in the door of her apartment on Sharon Drive in Taylor Mill and found her lifeless body.
Johnson was arrested and charged with the killing. He stood a trial and in a five-day trial that stretched over two weeks, he was found guilty.
A Kenton County jury took only about 30 minutes to convict Johnson, 41, of strangling Coleman to death and another 10 minute to recommend a sentence of life in prison.
The sentence is the maximum available under Kentucky law because the case was not eligible for the death penalty. Johnson must serve at least 20 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
