The murder trial for a Kentucky man accused of killing a former Kentucky lawmaker’s daughter during a 2022 Richmond home invasion is set for next year.
According to the Lexington Herald Leader, Madison County Circuit Court Judge Cole Adams Maier ruled earlier this month that accused murderer Shannon Gilday, if convicted, could face the death penalty.
Gilday, who fled to Florida and captured in Richmond, Kentucky, when he returned to the area a week later, appeared in court Monday; a tentative trial date was scheduled for May 1, 2026.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Gilday broke into C. Wesley Morgan’s home on February 22, 2022, and fatally shot the former lawmaker’s daughter, identified as Jordan Morgan, a 32-year-old Lexington attorney.
Gilday exchanged gunfire with others in the home, including C. Wesley Morgan, who was injured.
He’s now facing charges that include murder, burglary, criminal mischief, assault and numerous counts of attempted murder.
“During our conversation, he confessed to shooting his way into the residence on 1266 Willis Branch on the morning of Feb. 22 armed with an AR-15 rifle that he had owned at the time and had owned for several years,” Kentucky state police detective Cameron Allen said in 2022.
“He confessed to shooting Jordan Morgan numerous times in her bed.”
“He confessed to shooting Wesley Morgan in the downstairs bedroom as he came down the steps. He confessed to shooting multiple rounds into the bedroom door of (Morgan’s teenage daughter), as he believed there were people in that bedroom once he made entry into that master suite.”
Court documents filed October 16 indicated that Maier denied the defense team’s request to block the death penalty.
The motive behind the killing remains unclear, but Gilday’s mother reportedly had concerns that he had thoughts about nuclear war and had become obsessed with bunkers.
The Morgan home reportedly had an underground bunker.
“He wanted the security of the bunker,” Allen said in 2022, according to the Leader.
“He stated that his beliefs at the time, given the current political environment in our country as well in the world at this time, and the events that had taken place throughout the world, that he wanted to access this bunker and secure it for himself and his family and friends.”
Allen added that Gilday had been willing to kill Morgan and her entire family in order to get into the bunker.
Gilday’s legal team presented evidence to the court of schizoaffective disorder.
The judge said that Gilday did not have a “documented history of serious mental illness” when the murder occurred, Lex 18 reports.
Morgan’s loved ones gathered during the court hearing, pushing for the death penalty and showing unity for Jordan.
“The heartache and the pain is the thing that you feel constantly, and then when you have to come to court to try to defend your dead daughter and ask for something like the death penalty, which is what I’m asking for, it’s really hard,” Jordan’s mother, Lisa Foster, said, according to the Leader.
The defense announced in court Monday that they plan to file a petition for a change of venue.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Jordan Morgan/Facebook]
