22-year-old Louisville man charged with murdering 3 people in 2 years

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 22-year-old Louisville man was indicted on two separate murder charges as he sits in jail charged in a third murder case.

Deonize Lee Jr. is accused of shooting and killing his stepfather in St. Matthews on Aug. 16 after they got into a fight. According to court documents, Lee shot Jeremy Thomas multiple times that morning, and Thomas later died at UofL Hospital.

Four days later, Lee was arrested and charged with murder. He's been in jail ever since on a $1 million bond.

Then on Monday, Oct. 13, Louisville Metro Police said Lee was indicted for the murder of Mozell Issacc Johnson Jr., 23, on Wilson Avenue in the Park Hill neighborhood July 9, 2023. LMPD said officers responded to a reported shooting in the area of 22nd Street and Wilson Avenue around 9:30 a.m. that day, a Sunday, to find Johnson shot. He was pronounced dead on scene.

Lee was also indicted for the murder Jermia Offutt, 28, in the 4100 block of West Broadway on Aug. 13, 2025. Officers responded to the area around 9 p.m. that day to find Offutt suffering from gunshot wounds. She was taken to UofL Hospital, where she died.

Offutt was pregnant with her fourth child at the time of her death.

Authorities identify 23-year-old man shot to death in Louisville's Park Hill neighborhood