On June 21, 2023, 16-year-old Owensboro High School student Gay Mee Paw was found on Willet Road near Ben Hawes Park around 12:30 p.m. with a critical injury. She was taken to Owensboro Health Regional Hospital and died; an autopsy later confirmed a single gunshot wound to the head, and her death was ruled a homicide.

Detectives from the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office arrested a suspect that same evening: her 16-year-old former boyfriend, Jeremiah T. Byrd. A second teenager, 17, was arrested on charges of tampering with physical evidence and offenses related to a handgun. Paw’s family had emigrated from Thailand and were of Karenni descent; friends remembered her as sweet and happy, with a passion for volleyball and a dream of becoming a teacher.

The case raises painful questions about what led to the shooting and how a promising young life was taken so suddenly. If anyone knew Gay Mee Paw, her movements that day, or has information about the case, please come forward.