Second fight breaks out at a Louisville courthouse in less than one week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- For the second time in a week, a fight broke out following a court proceeding in Louisville.

Both involve murder cases, where attorneys say emotions are already running high. Last week, screams and shoves followed a court appearance by murder suspect Ronnie O'Bannon.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Ebert Haegele says they had extra security in anticipation of O'Bannon's court appearance. While the fight was not prevented, he said it ended quickly.

O'Bannon court hearing brawl (1).jpeg — A fight broke out at the Judicial Center in Louisville on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, after the hearing for Ronnie O'Bannon, longtime Jack Harlow DJ, on murder charges stemming from the fatal shooting of bartender Kasmira Nash at Vibes Restaurant and Ultra Lounge during Derby weekend 2021.

Haegele says he's worked in the courthouse for nearly 10 years.

"I can count on one hand how many courtroom fights there have been, and to have two in a week is unusual," Haegele said.

On Tuesday morning, Defense Attorney Keith Kamenish says he didn't feel an extra layer of intensity in the courtroom as his client's pre-trial hearing began. He's representing Robert Harris, suspected of murder.

Kamenish says normally his client's family sits behind him during a court proceeding, while the victim's family is behind the prosecutor.

But in this pre-trial, the defendant's family was behind the prosecutor and the victim's family sat behind Kamenish and his client. Kamenish described the first moment that drew concern.

"I informed the court that I wanted to wait to have that motion heard until I could hear discovery. So it was passed to our next pre-trial conference date in January. When I mentioned that, I heard somebody behind me, a female, say 'he should never get out,'" Kamenish said.

WDRB News obtained a copy of the video from the court proceeding. However, the video ends before the fight happened.

Kamenish describes what came next after his client was escorted out.

"At that point, the lady and my client's girlfriend approached each other and basically a melee broke out. It happened very quickly," Kamenish said. "Mr. Harris's girlfriend got close enough for me to be able to grab her and instruct her to stop it."

Kamenish says the deputy assigned to the judge quickly ran in and backup arrived to stop the fight.

Now that they know there's bad blood between both families, Kamenish says he will meet with the prosecution, judge, and the sheriff's office to increase security.

"We always want to present ourselves in a way that the system is working fairly for everybody. But when you have brawl like this break out, it makes it seem like the system is operating chaotically," Kamenish said.

Both Kamenish and Haegele said before their cases go back to court, they'll be meeting with other parties and the sheriff's office about security precautions they can take.

The sheriff's office is in charge of security at the courthouse. A spokesperson says every judge has one deputy assigned.

He says there are two control rooms with cameras that are monitored and teams are on stand-by. He says if there is a cause for concern before a hearing, they add security.

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