A long-simmering disagreement between two neighbors on Russell Road escalated into a violent confrontation late Tuesday afternoon, June 7, resulting in one of the men being shot and killed and the other arrested and charged with his murder.

Sixty-one-year old Michael Cowan was first run over by a car and then shot and killed in the incident, which occurred around 5:50 p.m. last Tuesday at 5941 Russell Springs Road (KY 80 East). Cowan’s neighbor, 43-year-old Jeffery D. McGaha, was arrested a short time later near the scene and charged with first degree murder.

Cowan was pronounced dead at the scene by the Adair County Coroner’s Office. An autopsy was scheduled to have been performed last week in Louisville.

Jeff McGaha was lodged in Adair County Regional Jail without bond.

When law enforcement officials arrived on the scene, they found Cowan laying on the ground near his ATV, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. According to Kentucky State Police, upon further investigation, they discovered that Cowan had also been run over by a vehicle prior to the shooting.

McGaha abandoned his vehicle after the shooting, and began walking toward town. He was apprehended without incident a short distance from the homicide scene.

According to family members, Cowan had gotten on his ATV and went to visit neighbor Tojo Phillips, who lives across Russell Road and down a lengthy driveway. Phillips said that Cowan came and visited with him about 10 minutes while Phillips was mowing his yard, then left.

Cowan was apparently on his way back home from the Phillips residence when the encounter with McGaha occurred.

Cowan owned a lawn mower repair shop on Russell Road adjacent to the mobile home where McGaha resided, and lived in a house on a street in the Guffey Estates Subdivision behind the repair shop.

According to family members, Cowan and McGaha had been involved in a long-time disagreement.

The investigation into the murder is being conducted by KSP Det. Russell Decker and is ongoing.