Police found two young women and a 21-year-old man fatally shot after a pursuit crossed from Knox County into Laurel County.

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — A police search for two young women reportedly being kept from leaving a car ended late June 6 with officers finding them and a 21-year-old man dead after a pursuit across two southeastern Kentucky counties, authorities said.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office identified the women as Jadeance Ann Marie Hale, 18, and Kira Lila Hope Asher, 19. The man was identified as James Priddy, 21. Investigators said all indications were that Priddy shot and killed Hale and Asher before killing himself. The case began as a possible domestic violence complaint in Barbourville and ended on Kentucky Route 312 in southern Laurel County. Authorities continued to describe the investigation as ongoing after announcing their preliminary findings.

The first public account began with concern among the young people’s families. The sheriff’s office said Hale, Asher and Priddy had left a residence in Barbourville to get something to eat. Family members became worried, and police received information that the women were with Priddy and could not leave. Hale was Priddy’s girlfriend, according to investigators. Regional news reports, citing police and dispatch audio, said Hale had been trying to end the relationship and that Asher went with her to provide support. A mother called 911 in tears and reported that the man would not let the two women out of the vehicle. A dispatcher relayed information that Hale had been trying to leave him during the day and that the man had driven away with her.

At about 10:45 p.m., the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office was notified that Barbourville police were following a red Chevrolet Cobalt connected to the domestic violence report. The sheriff’s office said the driver failed to stop, leading police from Knox County into Laurel County. The agency did not release a complete route, the speed of the vehicles or the precise length of the pursuit in its initial public statement. Officers tried to box in the Chevrolet on Kentucky Route 312. The car struck another vehicle and stopped, authorities said. Deputies who reached the scene went to the Chevrolet’s windows to check the occupants and found all three people dead inside.

Barbourville Police Sgt. Karl Middleton said an officer made contact with the driver’s side of the vehicle and discovered the three occupants with gunshot wounds. Police did not report that an officer fired a weapon. The public accounts also did not identify the occupants of the other vehicle or describe serious injuries connected to the collision. Investigators secured the Chevrolet and the area around it as a crime scene. The roadside discovery turned the response from a pursuit and possible rescue into an investigation involving three deaths, two jurisdictions and several law enforcement and emergency agencies.

Officials identified Priddy as a resident of Bimble. Hale was identified in official and local reports as being from Flat Lick, while Asher was identified as being from Lily. The sheriff’s office said Hale was believed to be Priddy’s girlfriend and that the evidence pointed to him as the person who killed both women. Authorities did not announce that they were searching for another suspect. They also did not release a detailed account of when the shots were fired, whether the gunfire occurred before or during the pursuit, or how long the three had been inside the Chevrolet before police located it.

Those unanswered questions left investigators to reconstruct events from several kinds of evidence. The original emergency call and radio traffic could establish what police knew as the incident developed. Phone calls and messages could show when Hale or Asher last communicated with relatives. Video from police vehicles or officers’ body cameras could help document the pursuit and the moment the car stopped. Evidence inside the Chevrolet could help establish where the occupants were seated and the order of the shootings. Authorities had not publicly released those records or a complete forensic timeline in the immediate aftermath.

The response involved more than the officers who followed the Chevrolet. The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies and investigators worked with Barbourville police and the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Kentucky State Police and Corbin police also assisted. Emergency personnel included Laurel County Ambulance, the London-Laurel Rescue Squad, Laurel County Emergency Management and the West Knox County Volunteer Fire Department. The number of participating agencies reflected the movement of the vehicle from one county into another and the need to manage both the collision scene and the death investigation.

Hale’s effort to end the relationship became a central part of the public account. WKYT reported that she had brought Asher because she wanted a trusted friend with her. The dispatcher’s words, as reported by news outlets, indicated that police had received information showing Hale had tried to leave Priddy throughout the day. The sheriff’s office initially referred to a possible domestic violence complaint rather than releasing a full history of the relationship. Authorities did not publicly say whether police had responded to earlier incidents involving Hale and Priddy, whether a court order had been sought or whether threats had been reported before June 6.

Asher’s relatives described the women as best friends who had grown up together. Miranda Hamilton, identified in local coverage as Asher’s sister, said Hale and Asher had shared a close bond. The women’s obituaries and funeral arrangements also reflected that relationship. Arnett & Steele Funeral Home scheduled both services for June 14, with Asher’s service at 11 a.m. and Hale’s at 12:30 p.m. Both burials were to follow at Ketchum Cemetery in Bryants Store. A fundraiser organized for their funeral expenses said the families wanted to honor the friends together.

Hale’s obituary remembered her for a broad smile, a sense of humor and the time she spent with her younger sister. It said Asher was considered family and referred to her as Hale’s closest friend. Asher’s obituary identified her as the daughter of Allison Asher and said she was born Dec. 4, 2006. Hale was born March 5, 2008, according to her obituary. The details placed individual lives behind the names in the sheriff’s report and showed why the families chose funeral services held one after the other.

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, a spokesman for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, said the deaths were difficult not only for the families but also for first responders who saw the scene. The officers had entered the incident after receiving a report that two women might be in immediate danger. By the time they reached the stopped vehicle, no rescue was possible. The case therefore left two parallel records: the investigative account of a reported domestic violence incident and pursuit, and the families’ account of two young friends who stayed together during Hale’s effort to leave a relationship.

Because Priddy also died, the investigation was not expected to lead to an arrest or a criminal trial based on the facts authorities had released. Detectives instead faced the task of completing reports, reviewing evidence and establishing the most precise timeline possible. A final police finding could explain when the women were shot, what officers knew during the pursuit and how the Chevrolet came to its final stop. The sheriff’s office did not announce a date for completing or releasing that work.

The agency’s last public description continued to call the matter an ongoing investigation. Hale and Asher were laid to rest after services arranged side by side, while detectives worked to complete the official record of the June 6 pursuit and deaths.

Author note: Last updated July 10, 2026.