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Mother of Lexington teen killed in shooting responds to related arrest

Mother of Lexington teen killed in shooting responds to related arrest

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – It’s been a tough eight months for Zanobia Simpson, the mother of 17-year-old Kenlon Johnsonwho died after being shot outside a home on Rockaway Place in Lexington in March of this year.

“He received his diploma and his acceptance letter to college, he was going to start,” Simpson said.

Instead of getting calls from Johnson about how his first college semester was going, Simpson received updates about his death investigation.

She said time was dragging on.

“I know you have to go through the evidence and all that stuff, but it still took too long,” she said.

It was Thursday when Simpson got the call she was waiting for.

19-year-old Jon’tay Mattingly was arrested in connection with the death of her son.

Lexington police said they were able to identify Mattingly through their Real-Time Intelligence Center.

“Halloween, I came home from work and I was told about it,” Simpson said.

Simpson said Johnson knew Mattingly.

“They all grew up together. They (were) literally friends,” she said.

She added that she knows others were involved in the shooting, so justice has not yet been fully served.

‘It will probably take a little longer, but they have all been arrested. That is justice. They have all been arrested,” Simpson said.

Simpson offers advice for other parents in similar situations waiting for answers:

“Just pray. All I have been able to do is pray,” she added.

Simpson said she has not been made aware of a motive for the shooting that led to her son’s death.