Woman charged in connection with deadly west Louisville shootings

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB)--The first person charged in the deadly shootouts in West Louisville is a pregnant woman. But she is not behind bars. 24-year-old Cheetara Goldsmith is still in the hospital after being shot by police.

Detectives say she shot Makeba Lee during a double murder investigation. Monday morning, family and friends said goodbye to Lee in a very heavily guarded funeral.

And it was a large crowd that gathered at Portland Memorial Baptist Church in West Louisville.

"I met them through actually some other family members; they were really nice people," says Tracy Browning, a family friend. They all came to say goodbye to Lee.

"Just want to show my respects and just I hadn't saw Makeba for quite some time."

Browning wanted to pay her respects, but she also had concerns about coming.

"Just pray for protection and come on down and show my respects and everything."

There's widespread concern after last Thursday when four men were involved in a shootout on 32nd street. 22-year-old Craig Blande Jr and 24-year-old Tyson Mimms died at the scene and during a police investigation shots were fired.

Police say Lee and Goldsmith were arguing at the scene when Goldsmith pulled a gun and shot Lee to death.

"There are concerns about retaliation," says Chief Steve Conrad, with LMPD. With so many rumors and so much concern... police presence was very noticeable outside the funeral.

"Our efforts are intended to make our community safe. Right now that's where we have seen significant problems based on what we saw on Thursday," says Conrad.

And now, police want to know what everyone else saw last Thursday...before, during and after the shootings. "We'd like to know who all was involved, who all was in the area at the time. We do know there were people out there that saw what occurred...we do know people are hearing things," says Lt. Barry Wilkerson, with LMPD Homicide.

Meanwhile, Makeba Lee and Tyson Mimms also had a small child together. "Here you have a mother you know and a father...they not going to have...the child is not going to have any parents anymore," says Browning.

Police say the other two men involved in the shootout are still in the hospital recovering from gunshot injuries. Meanwhile, Goldsmith is charged with murder and wanton endangerment.