LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Lexington mom is demanding accountability and justice after her son was allegedly assaulted.
Nicole Gilkey has spent days at attorney Daniel E. Whitley Senior’s office, going over footage from neighbors and witnesses of the alleged attack.
A video clip from Dec. 22, 2024, showed two adults, suspected to be Samuel Thurman and his son Anthony Thurman, chasing Gilkey’s 15-year-old son and his friends, until Anthony Thurman tackles and threatens the teen’s life. Gilkey said racially motivated name-calling was spewed.
“He feared for his life being chased six blocks around the neighborhood, while a man is saying racial slurs. He’s calling him a gangbanger, calling him a thug,” Gilkey said.
Gilkey said last Thanksgiving, someone allegedly broke into the Thurmans’ property that was still under construction. Gilkey said her son was out of town during the time of supposed incident.
She said the Thurmans told the police that they didn’t have proof that the break-in involved the teens, but her child fit the suspect’s description. She said they told police this just 15 minutes before her son was supposedly attacked.
“Based on, we believe his color, people falsely identified him as being a criminal, even though this neighborhood is predominantly African American. They chased this young man down and they treated him like a dog. They assaulted him, we believe, with weapons,” Whitley said.
“There was a hunting knife that was probably about five to six inches long that was used to try to scare my son during these events,” Gilkey said.
According to the uniform citation, the Thurmans were not arrested, but Anthony Thurman was charged with menacing, wanton endangerment and 4th degree assault. The original plea deal given was later revoked.
After reaching out to Thurmans' legal team on March 10, attorney Derrick Harris shared this about the situation:
“We received an offer from the government and accepted it. Now that the offer has been taken. The information we received was that everyone agreed with that negotiated resolution. We hoped that this case would come to an end today and amends could start to take place. My client wants to emphasize that he would never intentionally discriminate against anyone."
“Unfortunately, it’s not a rare situation because people are somewhat tired of the property being damaged. I do believe, though, that there’s an appropriate way of going about it and an inappropriate way of going about it. And when you have the resources we have in our community, you should always reach out to the police first,” Whitley said.
Gilkey said the event has put a wedge in her son’s life and she’s now looking toward resources and support services.
The Lexington Police Department told Spectrum News 1 it is not commenting on the ongoing matter as it’s being reviewed by the judicial system.
Gilkey and the Thurmans are expected to return to court on Monday, March 31.
