CentralKentuckyBikers
Remembering Rex Coffey
Willie Paul Grant charged in shooting death of Rex Coffey
A prominent Columbia businessman, Rex L. Coffey, owner of Rex's Cycles, died this morning Sunday, June 11, 2006 at 9:50pm, of gunshot wounds received on Saturday night, at around 10:00pm, while he was at the Beech Grove Baptist Church picnic shelter with family and friends.
Adair Countian Willie Paul Grant was apprehended after a 12 hour hunt and charged with the murder. Willie Paul Grant has been lodged in the Adair County Jail.
Rex L. Coffey was pronounced dead at 9:50am, Sunday, June 11, 2006, at the Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN.
At the time of the shooting, Rex Coffey was sitting beneath the Beech Grove Church Picnic Shelter with friends and family, when Willie Paul Grant, 68, drove up near the shelter and shot Coffey once with a rifle.
Adair County Deputy Sheriff Corbin in area when incident took place
Adair County Deputy Sheriff Tommy Corbin was patrolling in the area and spotted Grant's vehicle shortly after the incident.
Deputy Corbin attempted to stop the vehicle and began a pursuit, which ended on Sand Lick Road, when Grant stopped his vehicle in a creek and fled on foot.
Motorist's tip leads to locating Willie Paul Grant
Following a tip from a motorist, Grant was located Sunday morning, at approximately 10:50am, on Highway 900. Following a short standoff, Grant was taken into custody by Kentucky State Police Officers.
Several Kentucky State Police Troopers arrived on the scene a short time later and began an extensive search.
The investigation continues by Kentucky State Police Detective George Atwood and other officers of Kentucky State Police Post 15, Columbia, KY.
Obituary
Rex Coffey, 46, 7944 South Hwy 55, Glens Fork, KY, died Sunday morning, June 11, 2006, at the Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN. The funeral service for Mr. Coffey will be Wednesday, June 14, 206, at 1:00pm CT, at Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home, 210 Greensburg ST, Columbia, KY, with Bro. Matt Cowan and Bro. Stanley Watson the officiating clergy. Mr. Coffey was a deacon of the Beech Grove Separate Baptist Church and was the owner of Rex's Cycle Shop in Columbia, KY. He was the son of the late Leland Leslie Coffey. He is survived by his mother, Imogene Grant, and his stepfather, Garvis Grant, of Glens Fork, KY, and the following:
The family requests visiting after 4:00pm CT on Tuesday, June 13, 2006, at Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home, 210 Greensburg ST, Columbia, KY. Expressions of sympathy may take the form of a donation to the Beech Grove Church and may be left at the funeral home. |
A LONG LINE waited patiently outside Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home to pay respects to Rex Coffey,
whose life was cut far too short by a senseless act of violence. The funeral service will be Wednesday,
June 14, 2006, at 1:00pm at Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home
AN ESTIMATED 50 CYCLISTS answered the call from Jerry Quinn, left, to form a motorcycle escort
to honor their slain comrade, Rex Coffey. Waiting outside the Stotts-Phelps-McQueary Funeral Home
chapel where a capacity gathering heard the tributes, were, from left, riders David Eubank, Tommy Cook,
Joe Gadberry, and Johnny Simpson. The Baptist Church parking lot was reserved for the cyclists.
All parking spaces in the area were taken. Most in the downtown community quit work during the somber occasion.
A very long procession accompanied Rex Coffey as he was carried home to the Grider Cemetery,
where his father is buried, near Bryan in Russell County.
AS THE LONG, LONG FUNERAL PROCESSION CAME OFF THE SQUARE, traffic was also
stopped going down Jamestown Hill as far as the eye could see. The cortege would make its way past
Glens Fork, where Rex Coffey started his phenomenally successful business, to Grider Cemetery, for burial.