Louisville man accused of triple murder over 2020 shooting at Fern Creek bar pleads guilty
A man accused of a 2020 shooting at a Louisville bar that left three people dead pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of murder.
As part of the plea, Michael Rhynes admitted that in September 2020, he entered Bungalow Joe’s Family Grill and Pub, walked up to a table of people and shot and killed Steven Head, Torean Hudson and William Smallwood, according to a release from Ebert Haegele, director of communications for the Jefferson County Commonwealth's Attorney Office.
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The commonwealth's attorney agreed to remove aggravated sentences of death or life without parole in exchange for the guilty plea, and in August 2023 Rhynes was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for 25 years.
The shooting was part of a string of homicides in 2020, a year that eventually broke the city's 2016 record for previous yearly homicides. Rhynes had no history of violent criminal acts before the shooting, with Louisville Metro Police Lt. Donny Burbrink saying the department believed it was "a completely random act" at the time.
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Contact reporter Rae Johnson at RNJohnson@gannett.com. Follow them on Twitter at @RaeJ_33
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Bungalow Joe's shooting suspect Michael Rhynes pleads guilty to murder
