Man Charged in Shooting Death of Paducah Woman

Police have arrested a man on murder charges in the shooting death of a local special education teacher.

The Paducah Police Department says 56-year-old Kelvin Richardson was caught by officers just a few blocks from the Fountain Avenue home of Carrie D. McCord, where he shot and killed her Tuesday in the back yard.

Officers responded just before 1:30 p.m. to a report of shots fired in the 1600 block of Harrison Street. There they found a woman with an apparent gunshot wound lying in the yard of a home and Richardson fleeing the area on a bicycle.

After a brief chase, Richardson surrendered to officers. They recovered a .357-caliber handgun they say he used to kill McCord, who died at the scene.

Detectives said Richardson told them McCord had tried to help him adjust to life outside of prison, but he began causing problems for her in March and she obtained an Interpersonal Protective Order to keep him away from her and her home.

Richardson told detectives he got a handgun and went to McCord’s home Tuesday intending to kill her and three neighbors who apparently intervened in an earlier incident. He confronted McCord on her back porch, and said he demanded she call the neighbors outside so he could kill them. She repeatedly refused, so he shot her and left the scene on a bicycle.

Richardson was booked into McCracken County Regional Jail Tuesday evening on charges of first-degree murder, fleeing or evading police, possession of a handgun by a felon, and violation of a protective order.

An investigation by Paducah Police Department detectives and the McCracken County Coroner’s Office is continuing. Detectives are reviewing the case with the McCracken County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office, and say other charges are possible. The State Medical Examiner on Thursday ruled McCord's death a homicide from multiple intermediate range gunshot wounds.

Richardson was released from prison on parole and assigned to Keeton Correctional Center in Paducah last February. The Department of Corrections ordered him released to a home in the 3700 block of Hinkleville Road last May. He completed his parole in August 2019. His criminal record includes multiple violent felonies.