Lexington KY pizzeria hopes to help family of man killed
Taylor Lee Adams shared a photo of John Tyler “Ty” Abner, who died after being assaulted in a parking garage in downtown Lexington late Monday.
A Lexington pizza shop is holding a fundraiser for the family of a former employee who was allegedly beaten to death last month.
Pies and Pints Pizzeria, a Lexington pizza shop where 31-year-old John Tyler Abner worked, announced on social media it would donate money made Monday at the Lexington location to Abner’s family.
“We will be donating 100% of our food and non-alcoholic beverage proceeds from our Lexington location to help his family through this difficult time,” Pies and Pints said in a Facebook post.
Abner was fatally assaulted in the Victorian Square Parking Garage on Oct. 25, according to Lexington police. The garage isn’t far from Pies and Pints on Main Street. The assault was allegedly caught on surveillance video, which showed another man striking Abner with his hands and feet repeatedly. Benjamin Call, 39, was charged with murder in the case.
Call, an Ohio resident, has been in the Lexington-Fayette County Detention Center since his arrest early in the morning on Oct. 26, according to jail records. His bond is $750,000.
Pies and Pints said on Facebook it hoped the community would place “generous orders” to help Abner’s family.
“We know the Lexington community will come together to help us give back to a family in need,” the pizzeria said in a Facebook post. “We appreciate your support.”
Abner’s loved ones took to Facebook after his death to honor him.
Abner “made life an adventure,” Taylor Lee Adams wrote. “You were light and love, warmth and acceptance, family and home.”
Madison Kritzwiser remembered Abner as “a beautiful soul” who “would drop everything for the people you loved.”
“Your energy would light up a whole room when you walked in. I always loved that about you,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “This world is crazy….you did not deserve this.”
Abner’s friends and family also carried on his tradition of turning his garage into a haunted house on Halloween.
Jeremy Chisenhall covers criminal justice and breaking news for the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com. He joined the paper in 2020, and is originally from Erlanger, Ky.
