Lexington man sentenced to life plus 50 years in shooting that paralyzed teen

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) — A man was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years for a drive-by shooting that left a teen girl paralyzed back in 2017.

Carlos Jenkins received this final sentence in Fayette Circuit Court Friday.

The judge accepted the jury’s recommendation, who found him guilty of all charges in late February.

Back in July of 2017, Jenkins was accused of firing several shots into a home on Carneal Road.

A bullet hit Amaya Catching who was celebrating her 12th birthday at a friend’s sleepover.

The bullet hit her spine leaving her paralyzed from the waist down.

She spoke during Jenkins’ trial about the night it happened.

“I just knew that I wasn’t able to get up and run. It just felt like jello and I just couldn’t get up I didn’t really know what was wrong,” says Catching during her testimony on February 28th.

The jury found him guilty of all charges including being a persistent felony offender.

Because of this, the jury recommended a life sentence plus 50 years.

Amaya’s father, Brit, told us after court that he’s satisfied with the outcome and ready to close this chapter of their lives.

Lexington Police’s lead detective on the case, Robert Wilson, agreed.

“Ii’ll always be in touch with the family and stay in touch with Amaya but yeah this closes the book on this case and those relationships will remain but it’s time to move on,” says Wilson.

Jenkins is to serve the life plus 50 year sentence concurrently.