CHARLOTTE, NC — Kenan Gay walked through a sea of reporters, saying nothing. “Kenan has been living under a dark cloud, a little over two years,” said Kenan Gay’s father Doug Gay. “In addition, the Kingston family has lost a loved one.”
Kenan’s father faced the cameras for his son. “Kenan was defending his girlfriend at the time, now his wife, and during this trial he was defending his character,” he said. And character became a significant part of the defense’s case.
“Do you think this case came down to the perceived character of either man?” asked WCCB Rising anchor Terrance Bates. Defense attorney David Rudolf answered, “I think what it all came down to is that this happened in six seconds, and I don’t think any of us can say what we would have done, if we had seen what Kenan Gay saw.”
In this case, Gay saw Robert Kingston’s repeated, unwanted advances on Gay’s girlfriend, and now wife, Liz. “I believe the jury followed the law,” said prosecutor Anna Greene. “They didn’t base their verdict on sympathy, but I think they probably felt sympathy for everyone involved in the case.”
While the jury returned a unanimous decision at the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, at Ed’s Tavern, the verdict isn’t quite as clear, when it comes to that fateful night in 2012, when Kenan Gay pushed Robert Kingston out of the front door, and into the street.
“So in your mind,” asked another reporter, “will we ever know if he was pushed into the car or stumbled?” “I don’t think that was quite the choice,” answered Rudolf.
But the choices Gay and Kingston made that night left one family walking out of the courthouse feeling justice failed, and another relieved, yet still hurting “There are no winners in this case,” said Doug Gay.
We have extended coverage of the trial here on www.wccbcharlotte.com. You can hear more from the defense team and prosecutors.
