A 29-year-old Deaf person named Cody Wayne Downey of Russell Springs, from the Commonwealth of Kentucky, was shot dead by the police in Danville, Kentucky, about a couple of weeks ago, on January 11th, 2026, at Center Estates Apartments, where he resided. According to the Danville police, Danville dispatch received a 911 emergency call around 9:30 PM on January 11th, and the caller reported that there was a man who was attempting to commit suicide with a knife at Center Estates Apartments. According to the caller who made the 911 call to the Danville dispatch, the man was claiming to be harming himself, sending some pictures of his injuries to that caller through social media. The news is saying that the officers in Danville, Ky, went to his apartment for a welfare/safety check, and the police breached his apartment’s door, stating that the reason for doing so was to provide aid. The police say they have made contact with Cody Downey from outside of his apartment, and repeatedly commanded Cody Downey to drop the knife. The police said that Cody Downey came out of his apartment with a knife, and running toward Danville officers, he knocked one of them to the ground. One of the Danville officers grabbed his gun and then shot Cody Downey in the chest up close. The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance came to take Cody Downey to a nearby hospital, Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center, but unfortunately, he was declared dead shortly after.
Also in the news, it was reported that the Danville officer who killed Cody Downey with a gun is a 10-year law enforcement veteran and has been placed on administrative leave, which they say is standard procedure for any law enforcement officer involved in shootings. The Kentucky State Police Critical Incident Response Team (KSPCIRT) is now investigating the deadly shooting that took the life of a Deaf Kentuckian. The victim’s family, Cody Downey, who was shot and killed in cold blood by the Danville police on that Sunday night, said that he was Deaf, and was unable to hear the commands made by Danville police officers before one decided to shoot a Deaf Kentuckian man, Cody Downey, in cold blood. The sister of Cody Downey, Kisha Darnell, said that her brother was Deaf and believed he would’ve obeyed the Danville police officers’ repeated commands if he’d been able to hear them.
Here are a few links about this:
- KSP investigating deadly shooting involving Danville police from WKYT.
- Family says man killed by Danville Police was deaf, couldn’t hear officers’ commands from WKYT.
The family of Cody Downey, and the news networks like WKYT have filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act/Public records) request for the 911 call, and the video from Danville police officers’ body cameras, including one of the Danville Police officers who shot Cody Downey on January 11th, 2026, at approximately 9:30 PM. The city of Danville, of course, did not immediately respond to those requests as they said.
My takes
First before I even begin to share my opinions or thoughts, I would like to say to the family of Cody Downey that my thoughts, and heart goes out to them for their loss which that could’ve been easily preventable if the Danville police wasn’t a trigger-happy, and not realizing that if someone isn’t responding to their commands is that the person may be Deaf or other reasons that they aren’t able to communicate. Plus, when anyone trains to be a law enforcement officer, one of their lessons is to de-escalate situations and serve the public, especially since their income comes from taxpayers. So, again, my heart goes out to Cody Downey’s family.
Now, how can Danville police be so foolish, especially knowing that Danville is one of the largest Deaf populations, as Cody Downey’s sister, Kisha Darnell, said, and not take the time to recognize the situation, instead of happy triggers that have taken the life of a member of the Deaf community? Even more so, a member of their city, Danville, that they are supposed to protect and serve, instead kills first and questions later. Even worse, as Ricky Taylor (known as Ridor or Ridor9th) points out, the Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD) is only a few feet away from the Danville Police Department. The distance from the Danville Police Department to the Kentucky School for the Deaf is only 0.6 miles, a 3-minute drive, a 13-minute walk, and a 4-minute bike ride. This means that every day law enforcement comes to work and leaves, they’re likely to drive by the Kentucky School for the Deaf. Not only that, there is a good chance that some of the officers from the Danville Police Department will bump into, see, or talk to some Deaf people when they go grocery shopping or make a stop at some coffee shop for a drink or snack, such as students or employees from the Kentucky School for the Deaf. Not only is Kentucky School for the Deaf (KSD) in Danville, Ky, so is the Kentucky Association of the Deaf (KAD), an affiliate member of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), which is one of the oldest civil organizations in the United States. The Danville police department has stated that the officer who shot Cody Downey is a 10-year veteran officer of the Danville Police Department, who should have already known plenty about the Deaf community in their city by now, since the officer has been serving the city for 10 years now. Not only that officer, but also the entire Danville Police Department. This is one of things that have me puzzled is how can someone who have been in the area for 10 years or so (lives in or works at), that has one of the large Deaf populations in the Commonwealth of Kentucky so there would be a good chance that someone is aware about the Deaf people to recognize that if one of them cannot respond or talk is possibly a Deaf person unless they don’t speak or understand English such as an immigrant so to think the other way to be able to establish communication with that Deaf person by getting American Sign Language interpreter or grab a good sized paper or anything that they can write “are you Deaf?”, some encouraging words especially if that person is having a sucidial thought or even “please drop the knife”. That would’ve resulted in a better outcome instead of happy-trigger shooting that has taken one member of our Deaf community.
If that officer or any officers think that they are in dangerous positions, like they said that Cody Downey came out of the apartment charging and knocked one of the officers down, then why didn’t they use the freaking taser instead of a lethal weapon?! A taser would’ve put a stop to that, where they said Cody was charging toward them with a knife, and the Deaf community would still have him. But no, it has to be a lethal weapon as usual when they should only be used as a last resort, which a lot of police officers were trained to do. But they outright ignored that training, and use the lethal force on a citizen or anyone because they want to feel as if they are what makes them important. They do not want to use the non-lethal weapons first, such as pepper spray, a baton, or a taser; they want to use their guns as soon as they have the opportunity to do so. They’re heartless like that. It’s a shame that we are starting to see more Deaf and disabled people getting killed by police officers. For example, Daniel Harris, who was shot down when he was trying to get his mother out of fear, and as soon as he stepped out of the vehicle, they shot him right away without giving him the time to get out of the vehicle fully or even have any communication with him. Another one was a Deaf man named John T. Williams. He wasn’t only Deaf; he was also an Indigenous person, walking down a city sidewalk in Seattle, carrying his carving knife on his way home from somewhere for woodcarving supplies. The Seattle police officer yelled some commands to him from behind, but he didn’t get any response, so the officer shot him in the back while John T. Williams wasn’t aware that the police were behind him.
I even had an article written about how the police do not protect the Deaf in 2016 on here! You can read the article here: https://www.joshiesworld.com/police-dont-protect-the-deaf/
I wrote that article about a decade ago, saying that the Deaf person who a police officer killed isn’t the first time, and will not be the last time. It is heartwrenching for all of us in the Deaf community, but it is now our reality, and it seems like it is getting to the point where we no longer have a strong reaction when one of our own is killed by the hands of law enforcement. As a Deaf Kentuckian myself, I am utterly disappointed in the Danville police department, and condemn the Danville Police Department’s officer who took a member of our community’s life by killing in cold blood. I strongly disagree with putting that killer police officer on administrative leave; that Danville Police officer should have his or her day in court for a trial, and the charges should be decided by their own community, the city of Danville’s community.
As for all Deaf Kentuckians, and outsiders, why aren’t we making a uproar about this, as Ricky Taylor pointed out today or yesterday? This is something that Deaf Kentuckians should not ignore, and pressure the city of Danville to do something about this, especially calling for justice for one of our own, a Deaf Kentuckian, and as a member of the Deaf community worldwide. Deaf Kentuckians, don’t be idle over this, and don’t be cowards. Do something about this: protest, write letters or emails to city officials demanding justice for Cody Downey and that the officer have their day in court. If not, when will we ever do? Wait for another one to be killed by a police officer? Two more or three? We should be better than that. As I said in my 2016 article about the police not protecting the Deaf, this will not be the first time nor will it be the last time because this will happen again and again, but the question is, what will we do about it? I am not only asking you as a Deaf Kentuckian, but also as a member of the worldwide Deaf community. Do we have any moral values?! Do something, say something at least! Don’t be afraid, don’t cower before the law enforcement that gets paid by you, as a taxpayer.
Rest in peace, Cody Downey!
Notes
Cody Downey’s sister, Kisha Darnell, and family have set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe. Here is the link if you’d like to contribute. https://gofund.me/d1a957960
Update (02/02/2026): It seems like Downey’s sisters Brooke, Kisha and family have decided to end or remove their fundraising campaign for Cody Downey for some reason, so the link to the fundraising campaign above is now a broken/invalid link. Thank you, Ricky Taylor, for pointing that out! If I find another fundraising campaign for Cody Downey, I will come back here again, and share the update with the new fundraising campaign for Cody Downey but as of now, there are none.
I have the President of the Kentucky Association of the Deaf, Jason Smith, who said that he will be sending a statement about the shooting of Cody Downey in a few days, so keep an eye on this article as I will update it once I’ve gotten a statement from the Kentucky Association of the Deaf’s President, Jason Smith. I will post on social media to inform everyone that I have received a statement from the Kentucky Association of the Deaf President, Jason Smith, so you can return to this article to check it. If anyone of you would like to make a statement or share a thought in a video or text about the shooting that taken the life of a Deaf Kentuckian by a police officer in Danville, Ky, and would like to share your statement on this article here, please feel free to do so by either sending them to me through the contact page or JoshiesWorld’s Facebook or Instagram.
Update (01/27/2026): Kentucky Association of the Deaf, and the President of Kentucky Association of the Deaf, Jason Smith, have decided to withdraw from giving a statement for this article about the Deaf Kentuckian Cody Downey shooting, stating that they have changed their mind, and prefer to wait until the investigation has been completed first, as they said. I have told them that it’s not fair to Cody Downey and his family to change their mind to share a statement about the murder of Cody Downey just because they want to wait until the investigation is complete. For what? One of our own in our community (Deaf community) was killed, and they want to wait until the investigation has been completed before they can share any statement. This speaks loudly that they have no empathy and compassion for the family of Cody Downey. They made it sound like they were defending the Danville police and the justification of Cody Downey’s death by the Danville police! Whether there is an investigation or not, it’s important to send a statement to let them know we empathize. They disappointed me, so I have lost the remaining ounce of faith and love for the Kentucky Association of the Deaf and ended any future support from me/JoshiesWorld. To the family of Cody Downey, I apologize that the Kentucky Association of the Deaf and its President have shown no empathy or compassion for one of their own since they refused to send JoshiesWorld a statement regarding Cody Downey’s murder. This is NOT acceptable, but that does not surprise me because the Kentucky Association of the Deaf is in rapid decline, along with incompetent president Jason Smith, as many members and non-members lose trust in the organization.
Statements from others about the shooting that took the life of a Deaf Kentuckian in Danville, Kentucky, by the Danville police.
Update (02/02/2026): Here is a video from the news, I believe, of what Cody Downey’s sister, Kisha Darnell, says about her Deaf brother, Cody Downey.
If any of you have suicidal thoughts, then please take a pause there! Know this: you are NOT alone, and it is absolutely ok to seek help. Looking for help is a strength because your heart is refusing to give in, even when your mind is trying to tell you something. Your heart is stronger than a thought, so please be strong and go to 988lifeline.org, where you can find help by calling 988, texting 988, or chatting! The help is available, and they are here for you 24/7/365! If you are Deaf or Hard of Hearing, you can video call in American Sign Language! YOU MATTERS!
Joshua “Joshie” Sullivan.
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