Grand jury indicts for abuse, drive-by shooting

Published 9:24 am Friday, March 8, 2019

The grand jury indicted a Winchester mother for criminal abuse after two of her children tested positive for cocaine.

Anniquita Wright, 31, of 222 Third St., was arrested in February after her 4-year-old child was acting lethargic and was hard to wake up at the Head Start facility in Winchester.

The child was transported to Clark Regional Medical Center where a test showed the child had ingested cocaine, police said.

Email newsletter signup

Subsequent tests indicated a 2-year-old in the home also had cocaine in its system, according to Winchester Police.

Wright told police she allowed a friend to sell cocaine and crack from her home, but no illegal drugs were found when police searched the apartment.

Winchester Police Capt. James Hall said he believed the drugs were accessible inside the home and the children got into them. He did not believe the drugs were intentionally given to the children.

Wright was indicted for two counts of first-degree criminal abuse and second-degree persistent felony offender.

The grand jury also indicted the three suspects in a January drive-by shooting that left the victim with multiple injuries.

Chase Winings, 20, of Lexington, was indicted for first-degree assault for allegedly shooting Dalton Rogers multiple times in the early morning hours of Jan. 8. Police said Winings was a passenger in a car driven by Heather Cunningham and occupied by Jacob Hornback. Cunningham and Hornback were indicted for complicity to first-degree assault. Hornback was also charged with second-degree persistent felony offender.

The shooting occurred in a parking lot near Arlington Road and West Lexington Avenue. According to court documents, the shooting stemmed from a robbery at Hornback and Cunningham’s residence on Westwood Drive a couple hours earlier. Police said the three were driving around Winchester, with Winings in the back seat, looking for Rogers. When they found Rogers sitting in his car, they pulled alongside and opened fire.

Rogers drove himself to the Winchester Police Department, where an ambulance then took him to the University of Kentucky Medical Center for treatment.

Winings and Hornback are in the Clark County Detention Center, while a warrant was issued for Cunningham, who was released on an unsecured bond.

Another indictment charged a Jeffersonville woman with attempting to influence the winning of a lottery prize by coercion or fraud.

Kelli Browning, 20, was arrested in November 2018 after allegedly scanning multiple lottery tickets while she worked at Fast Lane Tobacco in Winchester without paying for them. The tickets were either placed under the cash register or thrown away, according to court documents. At the time, the Powerball jackpot had reached $687.8 million.

If convicted, the charge carries a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison.

The grand jury also returned the following indictments:

— Mary A. Rice, driving under the influence (fourth offense).

— Vance Brinegar, first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (two counts), second-degree persistent felony offender.

— Billie J. Barnes, first-degree bail jumping.

About Fred Petke

Fred Petke is a reporter for The Winchester Sun, the Jessamine Journal and the State Journal. His beats include cops, courts, fire, public records, city and county government and other news. To contact Fred, email fred.petke@bluegrassnewsmedia.com or call 859-759-0051.

email author More by Fred