Davenport, Cunningham enter guilty pleas for 2017 shooting

Published 2:26 pm Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Two of the three men accused of shooting into a home on Winchester Avenue in 2017 have entered guilty pleas. Russell Davenport, 43, of Barbourville, and Christopher R. Cunningham, 41, of Middlesboro, entered their pleas on Dec. 11 in Bell Circuit Court.

The agreement states Davenport and Cunningham had their attempted murder charged amended down to criminal facilitation to commit attempted murder. The two also were charged with 12 counts of first-degree wanton endangerment.

According to previous reports, the duo, along with a third person, allegedly fired multiple shots into a home on Winchester Avenue on or about June 19, 2017 belonging to a female victim. At the time of the shooting, there were 10 juveniles in the home along with two other adults.

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The recommendation for Cunningham was five years in the penitentiary for all 13 counts of the indictment to run concurrently with each other but consecutively with the sentence imposed in a separate Bell County indictment. In the second indictment, which involved three counts of first-degree trafficking a controlled substance, the Commonwealth recommended three years in the penitentiary. The would bring the total number of years in the penitentiary to eight.

The Commonwealth recommended Davenport receive five years in the penitentiary for the facilitation charge and two years for the endangerment charges. The two sentences would run consecutively with each other for a total of seven years. The sentence will also run consecutively with a second indictment, which the Commonwealth recommended a sentence of three years in the penitentiary for a drug trafficking charge.

The duo is set to appear in circuit court for their official sentencing on Thursday. A third member allegedly involved in the incident, Brandon Shay McCarty, is also listed as receiving final sentencing on Thursday. No plea information was obtained on McCarty.