Travers’ Funeral Goes on While Accused Killer Appears in Court

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ)- Tuesday morning, Tyler Jeffers stepped in front of a jailhouse camera, appearing in front of a Jessamine County District Court judge, pleading not guilty to charges he murdered 15-year-old Leo Travers.

Jeffers’ appearance was a short one, but enough for his attorney, Bradley Clark to speak to the judge, setting a preliminary hearing for next Monday afternoon.

“There are a lot of people in the community that are talking about what happened in this case but even more people are talking about why it happened and I think that’s what’s going to be absolutely pivotal here. We’ve already begun our preliminary investigation and what I can tell you today is I firmly believe that Tyler Jeffers did not murder Leo Travers,” said Clark.

Shortly after that court appearance, hundreds of students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered at Southland Christian Church for Travers’ funeral.

“For our students to be able to come out to celebrate Leo’s life, I think is very important for our school and our school community,” said East Jessamine High School Principal Aaron Etherington.

Jeffers attorney tells us the other suspect in the case, Jeffers’ grandfather Albert McKinney was out on bond as of Saturday.