Louisville, Kentucky: Man Sentenced to 35 Years for Killing a Father and His 3-Year-Old Daughter in 2020

A Louisville man who killed a father and his 3-year-old daughter in 2020 was sentenced to 35 years in prison this week, closing a case that a jury decided once before the Kentucky Supreme Court threw that verdict out.

Kevon Lawless, 29, of Louisville, pleaded guilty to two counts of murder, first-degree burglary and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, according to an Oct. 22 release from the Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office. He was sentenced to 35 years in total.

The 2020 killings

Brandon Waddles, 21, and his daughter Trinity Randolph, 3, were shot after 1 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2020, in the 3700 block of Kahlert Avenue, near Strader Avenue, in the Jacobs neighborhood. The Courier Journal reported that Lawless shot them in their home during an attempted burglary, and that Trinity had been playing in her "Frozen" playhouse when she was killed. She was dressed as a princess when she was buried, according to previous reporting.

Lawless had previously been convicted of attempted murder in a separate case. He was arrested in October 2020.

A conviction, an overturned verdict, and a guilty plea

A jury convicted Lawless in 2022 on two counts of murder and one count of burglary, and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Kentucky Supreme Court overturned that conviction in 2025. The court ruled that Judge McKay Chauvin should have declared a mistrial after a witness perjured himself on the stand and was detained for it. A juror learned of the witness's arrest from news reports and repeated it during deliberations, and court documents say that juror felt they could no longer make a decision truthfully. Instead of declaring a mistrial, the judge replaced that juror with an alternate. The high court said a mistrial should have been granted.

The case went back to Jefferson Circuit Court for a possible retrial. Lawless was released from state custody in November 2025 and booked into Louisville's jail on a $1 million bond. This week he pleaded guilty instead of facing a second jury, and the plea brought the 35-year sentence.

What the prosecutor said

"This defendant was first found responsible by a jury for the senseless killing of a father and his three-year-old daughter, and now, has fully admitted to his responsibility," Commonwealth's Attorney Gerina Whethers said in the release. "At last, after six years since their deaths, we have justice for Brandon Waddles and Trinity Randolph." Whethers added that she hopes the outcome brings some measure of peace to the victims' family and loved ones.