A couple from Kentucky faces murder charges after allegedly causing the death of a man by pushing him off a second-story balcony in Elizabethtown.
Shawn Durbin, 39, and his wife Nancy, 36, were originally arrested on November 13 on assault charges. This followed a report by Elizabethtown police concerning a man who appeared to have fallen from a balcony, as detailed by WLKY.
The victim, 62-year-old Bobby Pennington, was initially rushed to a local hospital in critical condition before being transferred to the University of Lexington Hospital. Sadly, he succumbed to his injuries four days later.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the Durbins allegedly pushed Pennington off the balcony. When the case was presented to a grand jury, the charges against them were elevated to murder. Additionally, Shawn Durbin faces charges of assaulting a police officer and resisting arrest, according to jail documents.
The News-Enterprise reported that when police arrived at the scene, a witness was administering CPR to Pennington. The witness claimed to have seen the Durbins forcefully eject Pennington from their apartment and hurl him over the balcony, landing him on a concrete surface below.
The arrest report indicated that Pennington suffered multiple vertebra fractures and broken ribs.
Nancy Durbin denied having anything to do with the incident when questioned by police. Shawn Durbin began kicking the window’s of an officer’s patrol vehicle as he was being transported to jail. The officer stopped the vehicle and opened the back door, and Durbin promptly spit in his face.
The officer dragged Durbin out of the vehicle and put him on the ground, where he promptly grabbed the officer’s crotch, the report says. He continued to fight with officers until he was restrained and taken to the police department, where he was uncooperative.
The Durbins are being held at the Hardin County Detention Center on $500,000 bonds each.
