Defense attorney Sebastian Joy, right, goes to embrace DJ Kemper after Kemper was ruled not guilty of first-degree assault in Boyd County Circuit Court. HENRY CULVYHOUSE | THE DAILY INDEPENDENT
ASHLAND Former Ashland Blazer soccer player Dwayne âDJâ Kemper was found not guilty Wednesday in connection with a June 2020 shooting.
Following a three-day trial in Boyd County Circuit Court, the jury of 11 women and one man returned a not guilty verdict to a sole count of first-degree assault. Deliberations took about an hour for the jury.
Kemper was accused of shooting a 19-year-old woman in the face during a fight in the 1800 block of Blazer Boulevard around midnight on June 20, 2020. Previous testimony from Zachary McWhorter â who is currently facing a rape charge in Carter County â and Brandon Hansford, the two men fighting Kemper, placed the victim in the car. They also stated Kemper instigated the fight when they bumped into him following a drug deal out in front
The Daily Independent will refer by initials (EK) only â had a long road to recovery.
On Tuesday, EK told the jury ever since June 20, 2020, when a bullet zipped through her car door and blasted out her jaw, she has severe pain â mental, emotional and physical. Taking the stand in the trial of her alleged shooter, 20-year-old Dwayne âDJâ Kemper, EK was visibly upset as she testified.
âI didn t deserve this,â she said.
The shooting went down around midnight on June 20 in front of an apartment in the 188 block of Blazer Boulevard in Ashland, following some type of a fight between her then-boyfriend, 20-year-old Zachary McWhorter, his best friend 20-year-old Brandon Hansford and Kemper. Ashland Police deduced that a single bullet entered the passenger side car door of EKâs Honda sedan, striking her in the arm, the collar bone and the jaw.
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