LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 22, 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today the Attorney General’s Violent Crime Reduction Team (VRT) has secured a guilty verdict in a 2022 murder case. It’s the VRT’s first murder conviction, following more than 115 indictments since the establishment of the unit in 2024.
A Jefferson County jury found Laron Spalding, 54, guilty of Murder (Class A Felony) and Possession of a Handgun by a Convicted Felon (Class C Felony). The jury recommended a 39-year sentence. Spalding, who remains in custody at Louisville Metro Corrections, will be sentenced February 9, 2026.
On the evening of September 11, 2022, officers were called to the 200 block of Wampum Avenue in Louisville’s Beechmont neighborhood. They found a victim who had been shot multiple times. The victim later died at the hospital. Spalding fled the scene but was identified by witnesses and taken into custody a short time later.
“We created this first-of-its-kind team to go after trigger pullers. This murderer already had a felony conviction and shouldn’t have even had a gun. By working together with our Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney and federal partners to increase firearm prosecutions of all kinds in Louisville, we can take more criminals off the streets, hopefully before they take a life,” said Attorney General Coleman.
The Louisville Metro Police Department investigated the case. Assistant Attorneys General Hammad Khan and Critt Cunninham prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth. Aaron Ash from the Attorney General's Office of Victims Advocacy provided victim services.
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Louisville-based Violent Crime Reduction Team
In October 2024, Attorney General Coleman joined Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerina D. Whethers, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey and Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk David L. Nicholson to announce the Attorney General’s Violent Crime Reduction Team, a first-of-its-kind collaboration among their offices to combat violent crime in Louisville.
General Coleman established a new Attorney General’s Office location in downtown Louisville, now staffed by three prosecutors and a detective. The downtown office space used by the VRT was secured in partnership with the Mayor’s Office and Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk Nicholson. The team is collaborating with Commonwealth’s Attorney Whethers’ Office to be assigned and prosecute cases. Two of the prosecutors have also been sworn in as Special Assistant United States Attorneys, allowing them to bring the full force of both the state and federal governments against criminals to protect Kentucky families.
According to an agreement between the Attorney General and the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the dedicated prosecutors and investigators from the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit and the Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will handle select cases involving nonfatal shootings, convicted felons in possession of a firearm, Louisville’s Group Violence Intervention Program (GVI) and the Prohibited Firearms Possessor program (PFP).