‘There’s no excuse for what happened that day’: Family objects to grand jury findings in fatal police shooting

A Jessamine County grand jury voted not to indict police in the deadly shooting of 22-year-old Desman LaDuke on October 22, 2022.

Lexington, Ky (WTVQ): A Jessamine County grand jury voted not to indict police in the deadly shooting of 22-year-old Desman LaDuke on October 22, 2022. According to Kentucky State Police, officers with the Nicholasville Police Department were called to a home about a suicidal man in possession of a firearm.

Melissa Marks, LaDuke’s aunt, she says she gained custody of him after his mother passed away and thought of Laduke like a son.  “I miss his smile. I miss his laugh. It’s turned our lives upside down,” Marks said.  “There’s no excuse for what happened that day. There’s nothing that can make it right.”

Police claim LaDuke pointed guns at them, but LaDuke’s family says that’s not true, claiming he was only a danger to himself that day. “Even though you try to be as prepared as you can be, just to know that no one’s going to be held responsible for killing someone who was suicidal,” Marks said. “Obviously, that’s a hard hit.”

The grand jury met on Wednesday to listen to testimony, choosing not to move forward with charges.
Marks says during these ten long months, there’s been a lack of transparency.

“I’m hoping that at least some kind of reform toward mental health crises can be addressed in a different way in the future,” she said.

The family is pursuing a wrongful claim.