OFFICE OF THE COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY
COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY
30th JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
THOMAS B. WINE, COMMONWEALTH’S ATTORNEY
Media Release: June 4, 2021
Attention: Assignment Editor
Director of Communications: Jeff Cooke
Office: (502) 595-2300 Ext. 3027
Cell / Text: (502) 262-5809
E-mail: jcooke@louisvilleprosecutor.com
As a result of declining COVD-19 infection rates statewide the Kentucky Supreme Court has allowed Kentucky courts to resume jury trials. The Jefferson Circuit Courts and the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney have wasted no time in getting back to the people’s business.
Besides the trial of William K. Riggle, Sr. and William K. Riggle, Jr. in Division 11 of Jefferson Circuit Court which concluded yesterday with a jury recommending 75 and 150 year sentences, respectively, for a series of sexual assaults of minor female relatives, two other criminal cases were tried and concluded last week.
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On Thursday May 27, 2021 a jury in Division 9 of Jefferson Circuit Court found Juan Chairez guilty of one count of Sodomy in the First Degree (a Class A felony) and four counts of Sexual Assault in the First Degree (Class C felonies). Following the verdict Chairez agreed to a penalty of twenty-five years in prison.
Chairez (DOB 7/20/73) had been charged with raping, sodomizing and sexually abusing his 10-year-old daughter (J.C.). In the winter of 2013, the defendant got into his bed where J.C. was sleeping. He then proceeded to fondle her breasts, touch her vagina with his fingers, insert his fingers into her vagina, perform oral sex on her and penetrate her with his penis. According to the defendant, who testified at trial, he was extremely drunk that night and mistakenly thought his young daughter was his girlfriend. Defendant further claimed that all he did was kiss his daughter on the stomach before realizing it was her and telling her to leave. Then in October 2013, defendant again got into bed with J.C. and touched her vagina with his fingers. J.C. immediately got out of bed and slept on the couch. The victim in this case did not disclose what had happened to her at the hands of her father until May 2014. Aside from her disclosure at age 11, there was not any physical, medical or forensic evidence in this case to corroborate the events that transpired.
Chairez’ formal sentencing is scheduled for July 29, 2021 at 9:15 a.m.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Marit DeLozier and Shannon Tubbs were the prosecutors.
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In another trail concluding on Thursday May 27, 2021, a jury in Division 3 of Jefferson Circuit Court found Byron Shea Seymour guilty of Rape in the First Degree. During the penalty phase of the trial the jury found that Seymour was a Persistent Felony offender in the Second Degree, recommended a ten year sentence on the rape charge and enhanced the penalty to twenty years as a result of finding him a persistent felon.
Seymour (DOB 11/11/1978) had been charged with the rape of a 52-year-old female (T.J.). On January 18, 2019, the defendant armed himself with a kitchen knife while inside of T.J.’s home, threatened to stab her multiple times, and forced sexual intercourse on her. T.J. was able to escape after her daughter burst into the room and confronted the defendant as the offense was occurring. T.J. ran out of her apartment building while naked from the waist down and yelled for help, causing multiple witnesses to contact 911. The defendant fled the apartment through the back door, but was arrested the following day by Detectives Lisa Livers and Lindsay Lynch of LMPD’s Special Victims Unit. During a Mirandized police interview, the defendant denied sexual intercourse with T.J.. In addition to victim and witness statements, the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam and DNA evidence confirmed that forcible sexual intercourse occurred.
Seymour’s formal sentencing is scheduled for July 20, 2021 at 1:00 p.m.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys Milja Zgonjanin and Corey Taylor were the prosecutors.