A nine-year-old Wayne County boy died on Wednesday, February 8 in a tragic shooting incident that occurred at a residence on Old Bethel Church Road.

Malcolm Pennycuff was pronounced dead at the Wayne County Hospital by Coroner Forrest Hicks at 6:41 p.m. Hicks said that Pennycuff suffered a small caliber gunshot wound to the upper chest.

Wayne County EMS had been called to the scene and advanced life support efforts were begun but were unsuccessful.

According to Kentucky State Police, the incident was reported at about 5:03 p.m.

The preliminary investigation indicates that the victim was accidentally shot by his 11-year-old brother.

State police released no names through their investigation because juveniles were involved.

According to information released by Trooper Don Trosper, spokesman for the Kentucky State Police Post in London, the boys were in the house at the time of the shooting. Few other details have been released in relation to the investigation.

An autopsy on the victim was conducted in Frankfort on Thursday, February 9.

Detective Doug Boyd is in charge of the investigation and was assisted by officers from Post 11, the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, Wayne County Social Services Office, Coroner’s Office and Wayne County EMS.

Counselors, staff from the Family Resource Center and consultants were at Bell Elementary and Turner Intermediate School on Thursday, February 9 to help students at the schools in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Malcolm is survived by his parents, Tony and Amanda Pennycuff.

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David B. Gover, former Wayne County School Superintendent and member of the school board, has filed as a candidate in the race for 52nd District State Representative.

Gover, a republican who resides in Wayne County, filed his paperwork with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office on Tuesday, February 7.

He will face incumbent 52nd District Representative Sara Beth Gregory in the republican primary in May. And at this point, the boundaries for the 52nd District will remain the same and include Wayne and McCreary counties and a portion of Pulaski County.

On Tuesday, February 7, a Franklin Circuit Court Judge, Phillip Shepherd, declared Kentucky’s newly-drawn legislative districts unconstitutional and ordered election officials to use previous district lines in this year’s state legislative elections.

The new boundaries would have removed McCreary County from the 52nd District and replaced it with Clinton County. Either way, Wayne County would remain in the 52nd District.

In his ruling, Shepherd tossed out the boundaries that the state legislature had approved and the governor signed into law in January. The ruling was a victory for House republicans and democratic State Senator Kathy Stein of Lexington, who challenged the constitutionality of House Bill 1.

The ruling by Shepherd also extended the filing deadline for legislative candidates until 4 p.m. Friday, February 10.

Shepherd stated in the ruling that House Bill 1 is unconstitutional because it allows some districts to vary by more than five percent from the ideal population size and divides more counties into separate legislative districts than necessary.

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Three local residents were arrested in Laurel County on Sunday, February 12 on drug related charges.

According to Kentucky State Police, Sgt. Steve Walker conducted a traffic stop on the Hal Rogers Parkway in the city limits of London at about 12:30 a.m. on Sunday.

During the course of the investigation, the operator of the vehicle was identified as MacArthur (John) Young 37, of Monticello. He was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and failure to wear a seat belt.

KSP stated that approximately 4.5 grams of crystal methamphetamine, hydrocodone pills, marijuana, paraphernalia and $3,199 in cash were located and seized along with the vehicle, which was a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck.

Young was also charged with trafficking in a controlled substance first degree, possession of a controlled substance second degree, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Two passengers, identified as Erica L. Lovett, 33, and Ashley Baker, 27, both of Monticello, were charged with trafficking in a controlled substance first degree and possession of a controlled substance second degree.

The investigation is continuing.

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Congressman Hal Rogers was more than pleased with a congressional redistricting plan for Kentucky approved by state lawmakers in Frankfort.

The plan would have Rogers keeping some key counties that he wanted in the 5th District, including Pulaski and Wayne. An original plan earlier in the legislative session had the veteran congressman losing Wayne and a portion of Pulaski.

“Regardless of where district lines are drawn, we are all Kentuckians. I commend state legislators for working across the aisle to develop a bipartisan redistricting plan that works for the Commonwealth,” said Rogers, who has represented the 5th District for over three decades. “The 5th Congressional District has changed three times during my service, but we’ve made impressive strides by pulling together, sharing resources and creating tomorrow’s jobs.”

The House voted 58-26 for the plan, two hours after the Senate passed it 29-7. The heavily debated measure, which also reopened the congressional filing deadline by five days, went to Governor Steve Beshear who was expected to sign it into law.

The plan was put in place one day after Lexington Attorney Scott White filed a lawsuit asking a judge to draw new boundaries around Kentucky’s six congressional districts, because lawmakers had not done so. White said he expected to drop the suit now that lawmakers, spurred by the threat of court intervention, have done their jobs.

Rogers seemed pleased the General Assembly could turn their attention away from congressional redistricting and edge closer to dealing with more significant issues.