LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A 34-year-old man was arrested early Friday in connection to the murder of a 63-year-old woman who was shot and killed in Louisville's Taylor Berry neighborhood in January 2023.
Derek Fulleord was arrested on a murder warrant in connection to the shooting that killed Paulette Ray in the 1400 block of Sale Avenue on Jan. 8, according to a news release from Louisville Metro Police Aaron Ellis.Â
Pictured: this image dated Jan. 8, 2023, shows LMPD investigators and first responders at the scene of a fatal shooting in the 1400 block of Sale Avenue in the Taylor Berry neighborhood of Louisville, Ky. (WDRB photo)
Police were called to the 1400 block of Sale Avenue, near the intersection with Lester Avenue, just after midnight. When officers arrived, they found Ray, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said at the time that officers noticed a vehicle that was seen leaving the area and attempted to stop the driver but the person fled and hit a nearby building in the 1300 block of Southgate Avenue.
The building the vehicle hit is a laundromat called Laundry Connection. Photos given to WDRB News by a supervisor at the laundromat show an SUV smashed into the building, knocking out a door and a window.
No one inside the business was hurt.
Photos given to WDRB News by a supervisor at the Laundry Connection show an SUV smashed into the building, knocking out a door and a window. That SUV was seen by Louisville Metro Police officers leaving the area of Sale Avenue and Lester Avenue just after midnight on Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023 after a shooting that left a 63-year-old woman dead. Louisville Police said it's not known whether the vehicle and its driver are related to the shooting.
In addition to murder, Fulleord is charged with, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and receiving stolen property charges. He's also facing numerous drug trafficking-related charges.
According to court documents, an officer was traveling on Cane Run Road Friday morning when he noticed a speeding vehicle, driven by Fulleord.
The officer made a U-turn and the vehicle began accelerating and made a left turn onto Crums Lane.
The officer then turned on emergency lights and sirens to catch up and the vehicle came to a stop on Poppy Avenue.
Police found a half empty bottle of vodka standing upright next to the passengers left foot and also found a "small clear baggie that contained a blue pill and three orange pills of an unknown substance."
Police found two more baseball-sized clear baggies in the grass behind the vehicle and inside one of the baggies were two separate baggies that contained suspected methamphetamine.
Inside the second baggie was at least a dozen clear baggies of what police said appeared to be meth and cocaine along with another drug.
Police believe Fulleord or the passenger threw the baggies out the window and that drug trafficking could be involved.
The unidentified passenger told police she didn't see Fulleord throw anything out the vehicle but she was on Facebook live and wasn't paying attention, according to court documents.
Fulleord said he didn't want to talk to the officer.
Fulleord was charged with three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, obscuring identity of a machine, buying or possessing drug paraphernalia, possession of open alcohol beverage in a vehicle, failure of non-owner operator to maintain insurance, operating on a suspended license and speeding.
The murder charge stemmed from a warrant out for Fulleord, but it's unknown at this time how police were able to connect him to Ray's homicide.
Related Stories:
- Neighbors concerned after deadly shooting in Taylor Berry neighborhood, car crashes into laundromat
- Authorities identify 63-year-old woman shot to death in Louisville's Taylor Berry neighborhood
- Woman shot and killed in the Taylor Berry neighborhood, Louisville police say
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