WASHINGTON C.H. — Kyle Wes Wilson pleaded guilty Wednesday to the murder of Robert Lee Gould II and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
After a period of negotiation with the Fayette County Prosecutor’s Office, the 28-year-old Washington C.H. man admitted to shooting and killing Gould II, 45, on June 24 at around 1 a.m. at the intersection of East Temple and Delaware streets.
Fayette County Common Pleas Court Judge Steven Beathard sentenced Wilson to a total of 20 years to life sentence on the murder charge — which includes a gun specification — as well as drug charges Wilson pleaded guilty to on Feb. 28.
“(Wilson) was charged with murder, not aggravated murder. With murder, there’s just one sentence, which is 15 years to life,” said Fayette County Prosecutor Jess Weade. “If you’re convicted of murder — whether it’s by trial or by plea — it’s 15 to life. If you use a gun, it’s an automatic three-year gun enhancement, which brings it up to 18 to life. He had the other drug charges, so he was subject to additional time on that. He offered, and the judge agreed, to do 20 to life. It basically added two more years for those drug charges.”
When asked about the family’s reaction to the plea and sentencing, Weade said family members are of course still mourning the loss of Gould II, but they were satisfied with the result.
“They understood that there wasn’t a whole lot of negotiating room on our terms of the sentence as it applied to murder,” said Weade. “They intend to oppose his parole 20 years from now. In 20 years, he could be released or he could serve the rest of his life in prison. The family is glad that that’s an option.”
At 1:16 a.m. June 24, the Washington C.H. Police Department received a call of a possible shooting at the intersection of East Temple and Delaware. Once they arrived, officers located a male — identified as Gould II — lying face-down on the ground.
Personnel from Fayette County Emergency Medical Services were called, however Gould II died at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to authorities.
Gould II and Wilson were reportedly involved in an altercation on the sidewalk at the East Temple/Delaware intersection when the shooting occurred.
The motive has remained unclear since the murder occurred.
“It was difficult to figure out a motive, and that was part of the reason we weren’t able to charge (Wilson) with aggravated murder,” said Weade. “Murder is when you purposefully kill somebody. One of the ways you get to aggravated murder is when you purposefully kill somebody with prior calculation and design. There was nothing about this case that showed that (Wilson) had any type of plan, scheme, or design that he set out on June 24th to kill the victim. With that being said, we know he did it. There were eyewitnesses and we had his DNA on a gun that matched the caliber of the bullet that killed Robert Gould. The two were actually friends. Kyle indicated (Wednesday) that he killed one of his best friends and he has to live with that. It’s our understanding that there was some sort of argument and it resulted in Robert Gould getting shot.”
As for the separate drug case, Wilson pleaded guilty Feb. 28 to four counts of aggravated trafficking in methamphetamine — two second-degree felonies and two third-degree felonies. These offenses occurred on Nov. 24, 2020, Nov. 30, 2020, Dec. 4, 2020, and Jan. 20, 2021.
Wilson will receive 265 days of jail credit for time already served.
Reach Record-Herald Editor Ryan Carter at 740-313-0352.
