Tristan Xavier Darius Cole was 17 and a junior at Mercer County Senior High School when he was killed in rural Mercer County in April 2016. Known to enjoy fishing, hunting and video games, Tristan’s body was found off Deep Creek Road on the night of April 13, 2016; he had been shot multiple times and left at the scene.

Kentucky State Police determined Tristan was last seen with a fellow student, 16-year-old Trent Easterling. Investigators said the encounter involved a plot to steal an AR-15 rifle from Tristan. Easterling was arrested within 24 hours and, during interrogation at the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department with his mother present, reportedly confessed, admitting in a recorded conversation with his mother and grandfather that he struck Tristan in the face with a rock and shot him three times, saying he did it to protect a friend, Zachary Lay.

Two other teenagers, Zachary Lay and Meagan Sims, both 18 and students at Mercer County High School, were later arrested and charged with tampering with physical evidence; Lay pleaded guilty to that charge. In February 2018 a jury found Easterling guilty of murder and recommended a 30-year sentence; the judge imposed that sentence in March 2018. An appeal by Easterling over suppression of the videotaped family conversation was later denied by the Supreme Court of Kentucky.