COVINGTON. KY. — A Kenton County grand jury indicted a man in the 2017 murder of a 24-year-old Covington woman, Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders announced Friday.
The grand jury indicted Jermaine Lamont Beamon, 27, on charges of murder and first-degree assault, both felonies.
On July 29, 2017, Covington police responded to 13th and Wheeler Streets on a report of a shooting at the busy intersection. Officers found Lazuri Collins suffering from a gunshot wound to the head sitting in the driver’s seat of a Toyota Camry. Her father, Antonio Collins, was also wounded and sitting in the passenger seat.
Collins later died of her wounds, but her father survived after sustaining serious injuries.
Read more: Covington shooting victim Lazuri Collins ‘vibrant, full of life’
According to witnesses, a hooded gunman fled the scene on foot, but officers did not locate a suspect.
After a two-year investigation, Sanders said Beamon has been indicted in the shooting and will be extradited from Butler County, where he is currently being held on an unrelated sentence. Murder carries a possible punishment of 20 years to life in prison, while assault carries a 10- to 20-year penalty.
Sanders said a "lack of cooperative witnesses" kept Covington authorities from making an arrest sooner.
"I grew up in this city, and it pains me when a woman gets gunned down in cold blood before dozens of witnesses on a crowded street corner, yet no one saw anything! It wasn't always like this, but the Covington Police stood up for Lazuri when others wouldn't, so hopefully we'll get more cooperation in the future," Sanders said in a news release.
