Indy Grandmother Reacts After Grandson Killed at Kentucky State

INDIANAPOLIS –The grandmother of 19-year-old De’Jon Darrell Fox Jr., who was shot and killed Tuesday at Kentucky State University, is looking for answers as the investigation continues.

Apryl Terrance said the family saw a video online showing a fight outside a campus residence hall, which included the moment her grandson was shot.

Frankfort police identified the shooter as Jacob Lee Bard from Evansville. Bard is not a student at the university, though his son attends the school, and he faces murder and first-degree assault charges. Evansville is about 150 miles west of Frankfort.

Terrance says the family learned who police say killed their grandson, but they had no prior connection to Bard.

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“The children were being children and were fighting,” Terrance said Wednesday. “They were on school grounds. There was no use of weapons. It was a fight, and there was a bat and you can dodge a bat but you can’t dodge a bullet.”

Terrance said students were preparing to leave for Christmas break. “They had been home for Thanksgiving and went back, and now it’s time for Christmas break,” she said.

Terrance said she does not know how the fight began, only that Fox “wasn’t even in the fight” when the shooting happened. “There were so many children out there,” she said. “You keep walking straight, you’re aiming at my grandson. It’s like you targeted him for some reason.”

She questioned why the shooter brought a gun to a student fight. “Why would someone bring a gun to a kids’ fight?” Terrance said. “What were your intentions? Because it seems premeditated to me.”

Terrance said the family traveled to Kentucky on Tuesday night but was not allowed to see Fox’s body because of the ongoing homicide investigation. “We went to the hospital where he passed,” she said. “They said we weren’t allowed to see him at all. There are no words that can express how we’re feeling right now.”

Fox, she said, was “the life of our family.”

“He wasn’t just the life of the party — he was the life of our family,” Terrance said. “Every moment with him was a moment of pleasure. Even on your worst day, he would brighten it. He’s already so missed, and he’ll continue to be missed.”