Man Arrested After Home-Invasion Killing of Ex-State Rep's Daughter, Shootout
A former U.S. Army soldier has been arrested and charged with the home invasion murder of a Kentucky woman who is the daughter of a former state representative.
Shannon Gilday was apprehended early on Monday morning as he walked along a road in Madison County, according to WLEX-TV.
Kentucky State Police accuse 23-year old Gilday of breaking into a mansion in Richmond, Kentucky, on the night of Feb. 22 and shooting and killing 32-year old attorney Jordan Morgan.
Former Kentucky state Rep. Wesley Morgan, a Republican who served in the state legislature in 2017-18, told investigators he exchanged gunfire fire with Gilday in a shootout in which both he and his wife were injured. Gilday, who was allegedly armed with a rifle, subsequently fled the property in a white vehicle.
Shannon Gilday has been booked into the Madison County Detention Center. He’s accused of killing Jordan Morgan during a home invasion Tuesday at the home of former lawmaker Wesley Morgan. pic.twitter.com/KfIVH5VoOn
— Marvin Bartlett FOX 56 News (@marvbartlett56) February 28, 2022
In a statement provided to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Morgan recounted engaging Gilday with a 9mm pistol after the intruder climbed scaffolding to enter the home and shoot Jordan Morgan to daughter to death in her sleep.
“When he shot her, he killed her of course – that woke me up,” Morgan told the newspaper.
“When I got up, I opened the French doors coming out of my bedroom and confronted him. He’s coming down the steps with his AR-15 dressed in his little army fatigues, and he had a flak jacket on, or a bulletproof vest. At that time he opened fire on me. I immediately hit the floor.
“I engaged him again when he came out of the master bath, and I think I shot him like eight times,” said Morgan, who was released from the hospital over the weekend. “I shot at him eight times, but again I’m not positive I was hitting him because he had a flak jacket on.”
“I’m heartbroken,” Morgan said, speaking to the U.K. Daily Mail.
“I can’t understand why, and would give anything on this Earth if it would have been me rather than her. I’d much rather it’d been me.”
A Facebook post published Friday — while Gilday was still at large — by a woman identifying herself as Gilday’s mother described the suspect as consumed with conspiracy theories.
“First I want to state that I am greatly saddened for the Morgan family, friends and loved ones for the pain and suffering it is believed by the police that my son has caused them and especially for the loss of their daughter Jordan. It is a terrible tragedy,” the post stated.
“My son Shannon Gilday, who I love so dearly, has not been of sound mind the last couple of weeks, distraught with the certainty a nuclear war is imminent. He spoke of building a bunker and the CIA following him. I tried to get him psychiatric help but to no avail.
“I plead to Shannon to turn himself in so that he can get the help he so desperately needs.”
Gilday faces charges of murder, first-degree burglary, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree assault, and two counts of attempted murder.
According to WXIX-TV in Cincinnati, Kentucky authorities believe it’s possible Gilday targeted the Morgan residence because it contains a so-called “doomsday” bunker.
A real estate listing for the $4.5 million property details a formidable fallout shelter bunker said to be one of the most secure in the country.
An Army spokesman told WXIX that Gilday served from August 2018 to October 2019.
Gilday was arraigned at the Madison County District Court on Monday, with a bond set at $2 million.
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