Cortez Duncan Jr.

Cortez Duncan Jr. was a 15-year-old boy from Louisville, Kentucky, with aspirations of going into technology or owning his own business. Described by his father as a well-known young man focused on graduating high school, Cortez was a child who loved playing on swings and running through waterspouts. His family remembered him as someone who was working hard to pursue college or trade school studies after getting his diploma.

In the early hours of Thanksgiving morning, November 25, 2021, Cortez’s life was cut short. Around 2:30 a.m., Louisville Metro Police responded to reports of a shooting in the Shawnee neighborhood. They found Cortez in an alley in the 600 block of Hecks Lane suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was rushed to University Hospital in critical condition but died from his injuries. A second 15-year-old boy was also critically wounded in the incident and was found about a block away on Dearborn Avenue.

The investigation quickly led police to a nearby house on Dearborn Avenue just minutes after Cortez was discovered. There, they found a teenager named Mekhi Cable with a gunshot wound to his chest. Another teen, Demaurion Moore, was found hiding in an upstairs bedroom. In May 2022, police announced that two 16-year-old boys had been arrested and charged with complicity to murder, possession of a handgun by a minor, and possession of a defaced firearm.

The suspects were later identified as Mekhi Cable and Demaurion Moore. A grand jury indicted them as adults, not only for their alleged roles in the death of Cortez Duncan Jr., but also for the murder of another teenager, 16-year-old Tyree Smith, who had been shot and killed at his school bus stop two months earlier in September 2021. The indictment also included charges related to another shooting that occurred in March 2021.

Following a trial where both were convicted for the murder of Tyree Smith, the case involving Cortez Duncan Jr. saw further developments. In August 2026, Mekhi Cable entered an Alford plea to a reduced charge of manslaughter for his role in Cortez’s death. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which will run concurrently with the 60-year sentence he received for the murder of Tyree Smith.

His co-defendant, Demaurion Moore, had initially agreed to a 35-year plea deal for his role in the murders. However, in September 2026, Moore appeared in court and asked the judge to withdraw his plea. He also requested to stand trial for the murder of Cortez Duncan Jr.