Man who killed Murray State student sentenced to 40 years in prison

A Calloway County man who shot and killed  Murray State University student Sarah Townsend last year has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. (Townsend, who was from Farmville, Virginia, had relatives in Hopkinsville.)

David Buckingham, a special judge for the Calloway County Circuit Court, oversaw the sentencing hearing on Thursday. In July, Julius Sotomayor pleaded guilty to felony charges of murder, theft and tampering with evidence.

Kentucky State Police detectives arrested and charged Sotomayor in March 2021 with the murder of Townsend after detectives had conducted interviews and located Sotomayor at his home near Townsend’s car.

Townsend’s death in 2021 led students, faculty and staff on Murray State’s campus to hold a vigil opposing violence against women.

Liam Niemeyer

Ohio Valley ReSource Reporter & Assistant News Director at WKMS

Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves as Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups.