Fort Wayne man accused of murder claims selfdefense due to victim's 'tone'
Jan 15, 2025
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - After a man was shot three times, the suspect accused of pulling the trigger took a shower to get rid of the blood. He made sure to bring the gun with him.
It may have been as long as 20 minutes before he called 911.
And newly released Allen Superior Court documents detail conflicting statements the accused would go on to tell investigators.
Tuesday morning, the Fort Wayne Police Department responded to a shooting at a house in the 1400 block of Lewis Street.
When 24-year-old Kenneth King finally called dispatch, he said, "I called it self-defense" multiple times and went on to say someone died after they fought over a gun, according to court documents.
Medics at the scene pronounced the man dead. The Allen County Coroner identified him as Kenneth Lemar Richards, a 53-year-old man from Fort Wayne.
Richards' death was declared a homicide.
King told detectives it all started when he had to mess with the power out in the garage so he could warm up some food. Richards got upset and allegedly threatened King, according to court documents.
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In response, King went upstairs to get his gun. At first, he told detectives he kept his gun in his pocket, but King changed the story to say he did have the gun out.
King said Richards "charged at him," according to court documents, and that's when King first shot him.
King said the man ended up on top of him, so he shot him a second time -- and even after King got away from him, he shot Richards a third time, according to court documents.
Despite the alleged attack, King told police he wasn't injured and wasn't even scared of Richards. Although he'd told dispatch they had been fighting over the gun, he told detectives that wasn't the reason, but he "had to do what he had to do."
King couldn't name any specific ways Richards had threatened him, only saying he could tell by the man's "tone," according to court documents.
King went on to say he had blood on him so he took a shower and brought the gun with him. He estimated it was about 10 or 20 minutes before he called 911.
King was arrested and faces a murder charge in connection to the shooting. He's being held in the Allen County Jail without bond. The investigation is ongoing.