A Madison Circuit judge will rule this week on whether to move the murder trial of Shannon Gilday out of Richmond.
In a status hearing Tuesday, defense and prosecuting attorneys told Judge Cole Adams Maier that they’d agreed to move Gilday’s trial to Shelby County.
It’s been nearly four years since Gilday allegedly entered the home of former state Rep. Wesley Morgan, and shot and killed Morgan’s daughter, Jordan, while she was sleeping.
Gilday also allegedly exchanged gunfire with Morgan and fled. He was later captured.
Mica Nicole, a family friend, saud she’s been in court for every development in the case, sitting feet from Jordan Morgan’s accused killer.
“It’s awful,” she said. It’s the worst thing that I have to do, and I hate it. And I still come. We come every single time.”
Maier has scheduled the trial for May. If convicted, Gilday could receive the death penalty.
Nicole said the family just wants closure.
“A lot of time, it’s not about moving on, it’s just about closing this one chapter,” she said, “and we’re ready to close this chapter and get this trial behind us.”
The high-profile case gained a lot of media attention after Jordan Morgan’s killing in 2022.
In court Tuesday, the defense said Gilday was more likely to receive a fair trial outside the Lexington media market.
The defense and prosecution agreed that Shelbyville fell outside the Lexington media market.
The seat of Shelby County is 30 miles east of Louisville and 45 miles west of Lexington. It is 70 miles northwest of Richmond.
Wesley Morgan was present at the status hearing. He represented the 81st House district for one term, in 2017 and 2018, as a Republican. He was defeated for re-election in the primary.
Morgan had built a house in Richmond with a 2,000-square-foot underground bunker, anticipating civil unrest. This attracted the attention of Gilday, according to court records.
A search of Gilday’s apartment in northern Kentucky turned up notes about Morgan’s home.
