A Lexington man who previously tried to withdraw his guilty plea in a deadly shooting was sentenced to prison Friday afternoon.
Fayette Circuit Judge Kimberly Bunnell sentenced 21-year-old Juanyah Clay to 21 years in prison for shooting and killing 26-year-old Bryan Greene. Greene’s mother and sister addressed Clay during the sentencing, and afterwards they said they felt like justice had been served.
“This time, accountability took place,” said Sherreta Lee, Greene’s mother. “All these other court cases … killers that have been getting off easy for taking a life. This one I hope will be the example that will set the precedent for anybody that thinks about killing somebody.”
Clay agreed to plead guilty in March after he was charged with shooting and killing 26-year-old Bryan Greene. Clay was originally charged with murder, trafficking fentanyl, receiving a stolen gun, identity theft, carrying a concealed weapon and trafficking marijuana.
As part of the plea deal, the murder charge was amended to first-degree manslaughter and the fentanyl trafficking charge was amended to possession of a controlled substance. The charges of carrying a concealed weapon and trafficking marijuana were dismissed, according to court records.
However, when Clay was scheduled to be sentenced in early May, he told Bunnell he didn’t understand what he pleaded guilty to, and said he no longer wanted to accept the offer.
At a separate hearing roughly one month later, Bunnell made a ruling that Clay’s guilty plea would remain in place after hearing testimony from Clay’s former public defender. Clay was given 18 years for the manslaughter charge, three years for the fentanyl trafficking charge and one year each for the charges of receiving a stolen gun and identity theft.
Bunnell ruled that the manslaughter, receiving a stolen gun and identity theft charges should be served consecutively, along with one year from the fentanyl trafficking charge, giving Clay the 21-year prison sentence.
‘He didn’t have a malicious bone in his body.’
After the sentencing hearing Friday, Lee and Nyesha Lee, Greene’s sister, described Greene as a caring and giving person.
Nyesha Lee said Greene gave up a dollar he intended to use for a bus ticket so that a stranger could get to an interview. She said her brother ended up walking home in the rain.
“He gave somebody his dollar because he said one day that could be me,” Nyesha Lee said. “That’s all he had was a dollar, but he gave it to someone else and let them get to where they needed to go.”
Sherreta Lee shared similar sentiments about her son and his giving personality.
“He didn’t have a malicious bone in his body to hurt anybody,” Sherreta Lee said. “If you were in trouble and he saw you were in trouble, he was going to come help you, whether he knew you or not.”
Both Sherreta and Nyesha Lee said Friday’s sentencing brings some closure to Greene’s death, but the grief is still there.
“That was my baby,” Sherreta Lee said. “He didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve this at all. That’s the last person on earth that deserved this.”