Jury recommends life without parole for Dawan Mulazim

Al Greenfield,

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — A Fayette County jury decided Wednesday whether the man they found guilty of killing a U.S. Marine in Lexington five years ago will live or die.

After almost four hours of deliberating, the jury recommended life without parole for Dawan Mulazim for the murder of Jonathan Price. They recommended an additional 76 years for robbery, complicity to robbery, assault, and being a persistent felony offender.

This is a recommendation. The judge will get the final say on Mulazim’s fate. The formal sentencing is set for December 20th.

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On Monday, the jury convicted Dawan Mulazim for the murder of 26-year-old Jonathan Price who was shot to death outside the Austin City Saloon in 2014.

The jury, however, could not decide whether Mulazim shot Price.

The death penalty was up for consideration.

More testimony was heard in the sentencing phase of Mulazim’s murder retrial.

The jury heard from several family members and friends of Mulazim’s, all pleading with the jury to recognize it won’t just be his life affected by their decision but also theirs.

Several tears were shed in the courtroom including those of Mulazim’s niece.

Mulazim actually spoke out to her while she was on the stand.

“If I lose him who’s gonna be there for me to talk to?” Dawniyah Mulazim asked the jurors. “I’m always gonna be there for you. Always,” replied Mulazim.

His niece also had a plea for the jurors when it came to deciding his fate.

“My momma needs him. I need him. I have a five year old he’s never even touched. We all need him,” says Dawniyah Mulazim.

Another niece talked about how Mulazim is like a dad to her. She says he has been the biggest supporter of her decision to major in theatre.
“Motivates me to stay on track and do what I wanna do and not let other people change my mind about what I should do with my life because he believes in me and tells me that I can do anything that I put my mind to so that’s something that’s really important to me,” says Dejah Garner, Mulazim’s niece.
We heard a lot about Mulazim’s upbringing and how the area he grew up in was rough, a low income area with a higher exposure to community violence.
The commonwealth and defense then gave their last argument before the jury went back to decide Mulazim’s fate.
Prosecution started by talking about his nine convictions and how with each crime his behavior escalates.
She talked about what his family said on the stand about him being locked up.
“They said it’s rough because when he’s locked up they can’t see him. How does the Price family feel? They can’t call Jonathan on the phone. They can’t email him, they can’t go visit him except in a graveyard. He’s gone,” says commonwealth’s attorney Kathryn Webster.
The defense in its final argument, telling jurors that we are more than the worst things we’ve done.
“You can still punish Dawan Mulazim. You can still honor Jonathan Price without the taking of another life and with a sentence that offers some hope,” says Mulazim’s defense attorney Kim Greene.
This is only a sentencing recommendation. The judge will get the final say on Mulazim’s fate.
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