Guilty plea in murder of NKY father-of-four by teen he’d taken in

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KENTON COUNTY, Ky. (WXIX) - A Northern Kentucky man on Thursday pleaded guilty to murdering the person who took him in and raised him.

Keyshawn McCoy shot 29-year-old Michael Bishop and Bishop’s fiancée, 33-year-old Alicia Haywood, in Latonia last September.

Bishop, a father-of-four, died at the scene. Haywood suffered serious injuries but has since recovered.

Haywood is sister to the wife of McCoy’s biological father.

She and Bishop took McCoy in when he was 14 and raised him as a son, according to Bishop’s family. McCoy was 18 years old at the time of the shooting.

McCoy and Bishop had a close relationship, the family says, but McCoy had a history of “deep” mental health issues as well as a fascination with guns.

Officers say McCoy and Bishop argued before the shooting. The argument, they say, was over McCoy’s recent bad behavior.

“[Bishop] kicked him out and asked for the iPhone back that he bought the kid, and that’s what started the fight,” said Bishop’s brother, Daniel Helton. “My brother lost his life over a damn cell phone.”

Bishop managed his own painting business.

“He tried to prevent anything like this from happening to him,” Helton said. “He tried to stay out of the street life thing. That’s not what he was about”

Helton also speaks highly of Bishop as a father.

“He was the best daddy in the world to his kids,” he said. “There wasn’t a better father out there to his kids.”

McCoy’s final sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 3.

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