June 24–A Fayette County grand jury has indicted two men in the 2014 shooting death of a former Marine outside Lexington’s Austin City Saloon.
Quincinio D. Canada and Dawan Q. Mulazim each are charged with murder, two counts of first-degree robbery and second-degree assault in the death of and the assault on his wife, Megan.
Debbie Price of Versailles, the mother of , called the indictments “a big step in the right direction.”
“We’re very grateful to the policemen, the detectives that have worked so very hard on this case,” she said.
The couple were approached by two men on June 21, 2014, in the parking lot of the Lexington bar, and were robbed and shot. died at University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital. Megan Price was shot in the leg.
According to police, both suspects already are in jail on unrelated charges. Canada is in the Jefferson County jail, and Mulazim is in the Hopkins County jail.
Tuesday’s indictment of Canada, 23, and Mulazim, 31, came just a few days after the one-year anniversary of Price’s death.
The shooting occurred about 1:30 a.m. outside Austin City Saloon. was shot in the back, and Megan Price was hit in the leg in the parking lot of Woodhill Shopping Center after they had left the saloon. Police said the couple were approached by two people, one of whom had a gun, who demanded money.
The couple were at the saloon to celebrate Megan Price’s birthday.
The shooting occurred during a cluster of violence in Lexington from early June to mid-July 2014.
Canada and Mulazim were indicted last year in a series of violent robberies in Fayette County, most of which took place during that time.
They were accused of a robberies June 15, 2014, at the Quality Inn on Newtown Court; July 8 at Barnes Insurance on Winchester Road; and July 17, when two people were robbed on East Second Street.
Canada was accused of being the sole perpetrator when a man was shot in the arm during a robbery at 726 Terrace View Drive on July 11.
Police said at the time that they thought the cases were crimes of opportunity and that the suspects did not know their victims. Police also said they thought the two might be connected to other crimes. According to court records,Canada and Mulazim had been scheduled to be arraigned July 10 in Fayette Circuit Court on five counts of first-degree robbery and being persistent felony offenders.
They were arrested in Indiana in late July, after a violent robbery in Louisville.
Canada’s father, Ronnie Lee Smith, was shot and killed when Canada was 22 months old. Smith was an 18-year-old student at Lafayette High School when he was killed during a confrontation along the 400 block of Maple Avenue in January 1994, according to Herald-Leader archives.
Lexington police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts declined to comment about Tuesday’s indictments.
“We have no additional comment at this time, as this is an active investigation,” she said.
Staff writer Cheyene Miller contributed to this story. Justin Madden: (859) 231-3197. Twitter: @HLpublicsafey
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