LOUISVILLE, KY – A 19-year-old man has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting outside the Valley Station driver’s license office that left three people dead after suspects opened fire on a line of residents waiting for service. The Louisville Metro Police Department announced the arrest Thursday, more than a year after the attack that killed Raysa Pacios Valdes, 29, Leslye Harbin Jr., 18, and Antwanette Chillers, 33.
According to investigators, the suspect was 17 at the time of the shooting and is now charged with murder, wanton endangerment, and receiving stolen property. His name has not been released due to his age at the time of the crime.
Timeline of the shooting and immediate response
On Feb. 21, a crowd had gathered outside the DMV office when three suspects approached and began firing into the group, Lt. Les Skaggs, commander of the LMPD Homicide Unit, said during the press conference. “This happened despite that there were marked LMPD vehicles next door at a business where they were eating lunch,” Skaggs noted. “Officers were then immediately on scene.”
Police said the suspects fled in a vehicle later determined to have been stolen from a dealership days earlier. Harbin was pronounced dead at the scene, while Chillers, his mother, and Valdes were transported to a hospital where they died from gunshot wounds.
Investigators recovered the suspected getaway vehicle and began an extensive forensic review. Skaggs said the lead detective in the case executed about 50 search warrants over the course of the investigation.
DNA evidence and ongoing search for suspects
Authorities said the case saw a breakthrough through DNA analysis, which helped identify individuals believed to be involved. “Additional DNA profiles have led us to identify other people who could be involved in this,” Skaggs said. “One possible suspect who was identified through a DNA profile has since been murdered in a separate homicide.”
Police say at least one suspect remains unidentified. “But we need the community’s help,” Skaggs added, urging anyone with information to come forward.
Family members of the victims described the emotional impact of the arrest after more than a year without answers. Jamilia Chillers, sister of Antwanette Chillers and aunt of Leslye Harbin Jr., said the news brought back the trauma of the day they were killed. “I was shaking,” she told WDRB. “It kind of felt like the same phone call I got when they were telling me that my sister and my nephew were the ones at the DMV, my heart sunk to my stomach.”
A GoFundMe created for Valdes stated she had been at the DMV renewing her identification at the time of the shooting. She is survived by her husband and two young sons.
