THREE MEN HAVE been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of the 15-year-old daughter of Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay.
Trinity Gay was shot in the neck, authorities and the athlete’s agent said yesterday.
The teenager died at the University of Kentucky Medical Center, the coroner’s office for Fayette County said in a statement. The athlete’s agent, Mark Wetmore, confirmed the death.
Dvonta Middlebrooks (21) was arrested yesterday evening and charged with wanton endangerment and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. A statement said investigators determined that Middlebrooks was in the parking lot and fired multiple shots at the time of the incident.
Father and son Chazerae Taylor (38) and D’Markeo Taylor (19) were charged with wanton endangerment for their role in the shooting, police said last night.
Lexington police said in a statement that officers went to the parking lot of a restaurant near the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington about 4am yesterday after witnesses reported an exchange of gunfire between two vehicles. Officers located one of the vehicles and stopped two people for questioning, the statement added.
Police spokeswoman Brenna Angel said police don’t believe Trinity Gay was in either of the vehicles involved. It is thought she was caught in the crossfire of a gang-related shooting.
Olympics
Tyson Gay competed in the last three summer Olympics. He was part of a team that won a silver medal in the 4 x 100-metre relay at the 2012 London Games, though that medal was ultimately stripped after Gay tested positive for steroids in 2013.
This summer’s Games in Rio featured another stinging disappointment for Gay (33) who has battled injuries. He was a member of the American men’s 4×100-metre relay team that finished third in the final before being disqualified for an illegal baton exchange between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin. The team’s appeal was denied, giving Canada the bronze medal.
Trinity Gay was a sprinter at Lafayette High in Lexington and finished fourth in the 100 metres and fifth in the 200 metres at the state Class 3A high school track meet in May. She also ran on a 4 x 200 metre relay team that finished fourth. Her father, who ran years earlier at Lafayette, still holds the state record in the 100 metres, set in 2001.
Fayette County Public Schools Superintendent Manny Caulk said in a statement:
Our hearts are broken this morning over the loss of Trinity to this tragic and senseless act of violence. Please join us in keeping the Gay family close in thought and prayer and supporting the students, staff, and families at Lafayette High during this unspeakably difficult time.
Grief counsellors will be at Lafayette High School today for students and staff, Fayette school spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall added.
The police statement didn’t identify Trinity Gay by name, saying a juvenile who was struck at the scene was taken by private vehicle to the hospital and later pronounced dead. Police are still searching for the second vehicle.
A tweet from Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner Julian Tackett tweeted that he was stunned: “Shocked to hear of death of Trinity Gay. A life of such potential cut so tragically short. Sympathies to Tyson and entire family.”
USA Track and Field also tweeted, “Sending our thoughts & prayers to @TysonLGay & his loved ones as they mourn the tragic & senseless loss of his daughter, Trinity.”
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