Teen killed in Smoketown shot by friend, police say

The 14-year-old shot Wednesday in a drive-by shootout in Smoketown was killed by a bullet from his own friend, who is now charged with murder, police said Saturday.

Troyvonte Hurt was shot in the back of the head by his 16-year-old friend as the unidentified youth attempted to shoot back at people in a vehicle who first shot at them, said Homicide Unit Lt. Todd Kessinger.

Shots from a passing car were fired into a crowd of about 15 to 20 people standing on the corner of Clay and Jacob streets Wednesday night. Some of those people returned gunfire, including the 16-year-old now charged with murder, Kessinger said.

"They shoot multiple rounds into a crowd of people at an intersection that is known for gang activity," he said. "Yes, I think that it's a gang shooting."

Troyvonte was not armed the night he died, Kessinger said.

Police received some information the night of the shooting but also were able to review video footage of the drive-by that helped establish a sequence of events that led to charging the youth, Kessinger said at a Saturday morning news conference. He declined to reveal the source of that video.

The teen now charged with murder and tampering with evidence was one of two others also shot that night in the drive-by exchange. He spoke with detectives and identified himself as being in the video but went silent when pressed for more details, Kessinger said.

"Anytime you get juveniles that are involved in violent crime, it's a problem," he said. "It's a problem that needs to be hit on multiple angles. It's not something that just the police can fix."

Kessinger said more arrests could be made, though there would be only one murder charge.

As he did during a Friday press conference, Kessinger declined to draw a connection between the fatal Smoketown shooting and the fatal shootings of two people Thursday blocks away in the Shelby Park neighborhood.

"You can't really speculate," he said Saturday. "Obviously, I have my opinion."

Kessinger said Troyvonte was charged with a gun crime earlier this year but did not mention if the teen was convicted. He said he was not immediately sure if the defendant has a juvenile record.

Referencing posts on social media threatening revenge, Kessinger reiterated his narrative of the shooting.

"If there were a group of people who were looking to retaliate due to their friend's death," he said, "it's important to understand that the death came at the hands of somebody who was in his group."

It was a bloody week for the city, with a fatal shooting Sunday in Shively, another on Tuesday of a man on a porch in Shelby Park, the deadly drive-by shooting Wednesday, the Thursday shooting in the 1000 block of South Hancock Street that claimed two lives and a Friday shooting in South Louisville that killed a man.

The slayings drove the city's homicide tally to 76 cases investigated by Louisville Metro Police this year – just four below last year's total.

County-wide there have been six additional homicides.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com.