C. Wesley Morgan, politician injured in shooting, is businessman and former lawmaker

A former Republican lawmaker who lost his daughter in a fatal shooting at his home early Tuesday gained notoriety during his single term in the Kentucky legislature.

C. Wesley Morgan confirmed Tuesday that his daughter, 32-year-old Jordan Morgan, died in the shooting at their home on Willis Branch Road. Morgan said he and his wife had also been “shot up.” The Madison County Coroner’s office confirmed Morgan was taken to a hospital but released later Tuesday.

Madison County Coroner Jimmy Cornelison also confirmed Jordan Morgan’s death. While Kentucky State Police did not name Morgan or his daughter in a news release about the shooting, they did say that the homeowner had been injured in an exchange of gunfire with an intruder at the home.

Morgan represented the 81st District, which covers part of Madison County, in the Kentucky House of Representatives in 2017 and 2018.

Morgan, 71, is originally from Hyden and has been married to his wife Lindsey since 2007, according to his Facebook page. He unsuccessfully ran to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2020, calling himself a “100 percent Trump supporter, a conservative Republican.”

Morgan owns Liquor World which has stores in Richmond, Manchester, Barbourville and Irvine, according to the business’ Facebook page.

During his single term in the Kentucky legislature, Morgan made headlines on more than one occasion.

He filed a number of bills to benefit the liquor industry, including one that would have changed a law he was later accused of violating.

In 2017, he overcame a charge that he had been caught illegally transporting alcoholic beverages. A Barbourville police officer had stopped Morgan when he was in a pickup truck moving alcohol between his stores in April 2017.

At that time, state law required a transporter’s license for that. While Morgan’s bill was not successful at getting the law changed, a fellow legislator filed a similar bill that did pass, and in August a judge dismissed the charge against Morgan, saying that the old law was unconstitutional and that Morgan could “take advantage” of the new law even thought it had not yet taken effect when he was charged.

Morgan also acknowledged in 2017 that he had not paid property taxes on his luxury houseboat in more than a decade. He said at the time that he thought that if the boat was registered with the Coast Guard, he didn’t have to.

Morgan also filed a bill to try to make it more difficult for Confederate statues to be moved, and he filed a resolution calling for Rep. Jeff Hoover to be removed from the legislature in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal.

After Morgan lost his House seat in the GOP primary in 2018, he initially said he would no longer be a part of the Republican Party, but he backtracked the next day and said he had changed his mind.

He later filed a suit against his opponent, current Rep. Deanna Frazier Gordon, alleging that he was defamed by campaign materials that suggested that he had used the office to enrich himself.

Update: Former Ky. state rep. says daughter was killed in shooting. Investigation ongoing.

Jordan Morgan worked in law, politics. Colleagues ‘shocked and saddened’ by shooting.