Nicole Morton, 33, was found dead from a gunshot wound inside a Lexington, Kentucky, apartment during the early morning hours of October 25, 2022. Responding officers arrived after reports of gunfire around 4 a.m.; Morton was pronounced dead at the scene by the Lexington Fire Department.

Initial investigation produced no named suspects, but attention focused on the apartment’s resident, 32-year-old Courtney Young. Detectives say Young gave two different accounts of her whereabouts that night, both later disproved, and that DNA and other evidence placed her at the scene. Investigators also reported Young discussed details of the killing that had not been made public. Young was arrested and charged with murder, tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; she was already jailed on unrelated warrants when the murder charges were filed.

Morton was an East Jessamine High School graduate who briefly attended Asbury College on a basketball scholarship and joined the U.S. Army in 2009, serving as an ammunition specialist with deployments including Afghanistan and El Paso, Texas. A mother of three, she had struggled with addiction in the decade before her death but described her children as her greatest accomplishments.

If anyone knew Nicole, her routines, or saw activity on Maple Avenue the night of October 25, 2022, please share information with investigators.