21-year-old indicted in connection with murder in Louisville's Portland neighborhood last summer

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A man has been indicted in connection with a murder that happened last summer in Louisville.

Kanye Easley, 21, is charged with complicity to murder in Rayjon Baskin's death, according to court documents.

Baskin was shot and killed July 18, 2024, in Louisville's Portland neighborhood.

Louisville Metro Police said the shooting happened just before 6 p.m. in the 600 block of North 23rd Street. That's where Baskin was found with multiple gunshot wounds. He and pronounced dead at the scene.

A grand jury indicted Easley Feb. 10 on the complicity to homicide charge. According to court documents, Easley shot Baskin with an AR-style pistol, killing him.

Court documents indicate police believe Baskin was walking on 23rd Street when a vehicle pulled up "and appeared to be chasing the victim," who walked onto Northwestern Parkway. The vehicle continued to follow him.

When the vehicle stopped, Easley got out of the passenger seat and fired multiple shots from an AR pistol, hitting and killing Baskin. Police said some of the incident was caught on surveillance video.

Easley was arrested July 19, the day after the shooting, but not charged for the homicide. He was arrested on multiple charges, including trafficking a controlled substance, trafficking marijuana, receiving stolen property, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, fleeing or evading police and using restricted ammo during a felony.

According to his arrest citation in that case, LMPD's Violent Crime Unit was helping LMPD's Homicide Unit with surveillance in an ongoing homicide investigation when they spotted him coming out of a building and getting into a vehicle with a backpack. The officers followed the car and ran the registration, which showed it had been canceled. Easley fled on foot when the officers stopped the vehicle, but was apprehended nearby.

Inside his backpack, police found an AR-style pistol loaded with armor piercing rounds, a backstrap for a Glock handgun, several loose bullets, drugs and drug paraphernalia. A Glock handgun was also found, and a co-defendant who was sitting in the back of the told police the gun belonged to Easley.

Easley's arrest citation said he admitted the backpack and pistol belonged to him. He was under 21 at the time of his arrest, and prohibited from carrying a concealed deadly weapon. He'd also already been convicted of trafficking marijuana.

According to Easley's indictment citation from Feb. 10, that vehicle was the suspect vehicle in the homicide. Police said a juvenile co-defendant was driving the vehicle, and it was the juvenile's home Easley was seen walking out of the day of his July 19 arrest. Police said Easley appeared to be wearing the same clothing he was seen wearing in surveillance video of the shooting.

The AR pistol police found in the vehicle July 19 matched the firearm used in the shooting. The juvenile co-defendant in the case was wearing an HIP monitor, showing Easley in the area of the shooting at the time it happened. The monitor allowed police to track their movements.

Easley was arraigned on the indictment on Feb. 17, and pleaded not guilty. He's being held on a $200,000 full cash bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for April 9.

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