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Man Indicted in Brutal Beating Death

By Shane Gilreath
SCN Contributing Editor
[email protected]

On June 22, 2026, a McCreary County Grand Jury returned an indictment charging 58-year-old Billy Eugene Proffitt Jr. with first-degree manslaughter in connection with the April 7th beating death of Gene Cooper.

Billy Eugene Proffitt Jr.

When officers arrived at the scene of the crime, they found Cooper, 60, unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead.
As previously reported, an unnamed source provided security camera footage of the attack to SCN and other media outlets, which resulted in widespread media attention. The graphic video, which appeared to show Cooper being repeatedly struck, kicked, and spit on, quickly fueled public calls for accountability. As evidenced, an investigation concluded that Cooper’s death resulted from the brutal physical assault at the hands of Proffitt, which continued – almost from the outset – even as Cooper remained unconscious.
A day after Proffitt was indictment, KSP was forced to request the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service Central Kentucky Fugitive Task Force to locate Proffitt. KSP believed Proffitt had fled to either Jackson County or McDowell County in North Carolina. Acting on investigative leads, the U.S. Marshals Service Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force located Proffitt in Marion, North Carolina, on June 23rd, where he was taken into custody.
Proffitt was charged as a fugitive from another state in North Carolina before being extradited back to Kentucky where he will face a charge of First-degree manslaughter, a Class B felony in Kentucky that is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison.
SCN reminds readers that an indictment is an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.