Neighbors concerned after deadly shooting in Taylor Berry neighborhood, car crashes into laundromat

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police are investigating after a 63-year-old woman was shot to death over the weekend -- but that's not the only crime scene that unfolded in Louisville's Taylor Berry neighborhood that night.

Around the same time as a deadly shooting on Sale Avenue, just after midnight on Sunday, a car crashed into a nearby laundromat and the driver fled the scene, according to LMPD.

Police are investigating both situations.

LMPD says it is not known if the vehicle involved in the crash is related to the shooting from the 1400 block of Sale Ave.  

A statement from LMPD says while officers were responding to the shooting, they noticed a vehicle leaving the area around the same time and attempted to stop the vehicle. LMPD says the vehicle fled and crashed on Southgate Avenue, and the driver ran away on foot.

A Louisville laundromat, Laundry Connection remains open despite the damage to the front of the building. Customers are using the side entrance. A manager tells us a car slammed into the building just after midnight Sunday morning. @WDRBNews pic.twitter.com/SAAwxuHZJW

— Darby Beane (@DarbyBeane) January 10, 2023

On Tuesday morning, the laundromat, Laundry Connection on Southgate Avenue, was still showing signs of the crash, including boarded up windows, loose bricks and crime scene tape. Despite all of the damage, a manager says the business is open. 

That manager says she was just getting ready to leave work around midnight on Sunday morning when the car slammed into the building. 

The shooting on Sale Avenue was just about half a mile away. 

"I was in the bed, and I heard 'Boom! Boom! Boom!'" said Trina Williams, who lives just a few houses down from the shooting on Sale Avenue.

Daylight revealed at least one dozen bullet holes in the siding and windows of the home. The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified as 63-year-old Paulette Ray, as the victim.

"I mean, just had us scared," said Williams. "But we just got down on the floor. And I didn't know the lady (Ray) personally, but I would walk the dogs and talk to her. I mean, it's sad. We've been in this area for 23 years and nothing like this has ever happened."

Williams said there were several children in her home, including her three-year-old niece at the time she heard the shots being fired down the street. 

"I was in the bed and I heard 'Boom, Boom, Boom!' And I thought somebody was knocking at the door and I hollered at my kids, I said, 'who's beating on the door?' Then I heard 'Boom, Boom, Boom' again. I was like, 'that's no beating, get down, get down!'"

Williams said she stayed on the ground with her family until she saw the police lights flashing down the road.

"... that close and loud, it's scary," she said.

The victims of Louisville's two most recent homicides were both in their 60s. Just days before the shooting on Sale Avenue, officials say 69-year-old Mitchell Eddings was shot and killed on South 26th Street.

Police are still investigating that homicide as well.

"We're living in a mean, cruel world right now, and I just pray that they please put these guns down," said Williams.

Anyone with information is asked to call the LMPD crime tip line at 502-574-LMPD (5673) or send an anonymous tips through the Crime Tip Portal.

Previous stories:

• Authorities identify 63-year-old woman shot to death in Louisville's Taylor Berry neighborhood
• Family of 69-year-old Caesars employee shot to death in Louisville begging for answers

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