A trial date has been scheduled for a Princeton man charged with fatally shooting his wife in January.
Byron Black and his public defender, Mary Rohrer, appeared before Caldwell Circuit Judge Jamus Redd for a pretrial conference on Tuesday morning, along with Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins, who informed Judge Redd that some testing results have been provided to Rohrer, while other tests are still pending.
click to download audioJudge Redd scheduled another pretrial conference for October 1st at 9 a.m. Following a brief discussion about scheduling, he set a jury trial for mid-September 2025.
click to download audioBlack is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. He’s accused of shooting his wife, Kelly Black, in the back of the head sometime after he reportedly picked her up from the Nashville airport, where she had flown in from California.
Princeton Police reported that officers discovered her body during a welfare check at a Center Street home on January 28th. An Amber Alert was issued shortly thereafter when law enforcement could not locate the couple’s 5-year-old daughter, who was believed be with her father, Byron Black.
During the investigation, Princeton Police reported officers located Black’s pickup truck at a Princeton hotel, where he was arrested on a warrant and their daughter was found safe. Kentucky State Police Detective Jacob Stephens testified during a preliminary hearing that a handgun was also discovered inside Black’s truck at the hotel.
Black remains lodged in the Caldwell County Jail under a $1 million bond.
