Calloway Co. man sentenced for murdering Murray St. student

A man who pled guilty to killing a Murray State University student last year has been sentenced.

Julius Sotomayor Jr., 23, of Almo (Calloway Co.), was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering 21-year-old Sarah Townsend, a Murray St. student from Farmville, Virginia.

Sotomayor pled guilty in a Calloway County courtroom to murder, theft by unlawful taking and tampering with physical evidence.

Townsend’s body was found in a ditch near the Cherry Corner area of Calloway County during the early morning hours of March 26, 2021. She had been shot multiple times.

Sotomayor said he shot Townsend, who he told police was his best friend, because he wanted to kill himself but she wouldn’t let him, a Kentucky State Police investigator told the Murray Ledger.

After shooting Townsend and dumping her body, Sotomayor fled to Georgia before returning to Kentucky.

He was arrested near his home in Dexter, a small community in Calloway County, less than 24 hours after killing Townsend.

Townsend was a junior majoring in pre-veterinary medicine and served as a Resident Advisor at College Court Apartments.

(Headline photo: Julius Sotomayor at a Calloway Co. court appearance in July 2022, courtesy of the Murray Ledger)

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com