A Kentucky teen who had previously been featured on a popular comedy podcast was shot to death Sunday.
Carl Garner Jr., 19, became Lexington’s second homicide victim of 2018 when he was found at a home on River Park Drive by a family member.
Garner had appeared on the podcast Judge John Hodgman in 2016, after his teacher put Garner’s essay forward on whether a hotdog was a sandwich, The Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Carl Garner Jr., 19, who had previously been featured on a popular comedy podcast was shot to death Sunday (pictured here)
Garner was commended by the Fayette County School Board officials for his essay after his appearance on the podcast.
His teacher Eric Little, who had brought Garner’s essay to the attention of Hodgman, said the news of Garner’s death was heartbreaking, describing the teen as kind and possessing integrity.
‘It’s been a tough couple of days. Carl was real special to me and I’ve had a hard time with him going,’ Little said.
‘It was almost two years to the day since the article came out,’ he said about Garner’s essay.
Talking about Garner he said ‘he was a kid I really hoped would make it. He got encouragement. He got support,’ Little said.
‘He had integrity that a lot of kids don’t have at that age. He could be very kind. He stepped up when it was necessary.’
Garner’s father posted about his grief on Facebook. ‘This does not get any easier as time passes, the pain and anger only grows more by the minute.’
‘When I close my eyes all I see is my son’s lifeless body.’
Hodgman also shared his condolences on social media by tweeting an article accompanied by ‘This is very very sad. Listeners will remember Carl and his teacher Eric. Devastating.’
The home in which Garner died also had gunfire damage, police reported.
His teacher Eric Little (left), who had brought Garner’s (right) essay to the attention of Hodgman, said the news of Garner’s death was heartbreaking, describing the teen as kind and possessing integrity
It is not clear if Garner was shot inside or outside the home but he was transported to University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital where he died shortly after 9:30 pm Sunday.
The essay which landed him on Hodgman’s podcast was in answer to the question ‘Is a hotdog a sandwich?’
‘A sandwich is two pieces of bread,’ he wrote. ‘In between those pieces of bread might be some mayonnaise, some tomatoes, some lettuce, and some baloney. It’s like someone trying to say that you’re making a baloney sandwich without lettuce and mayo. It would still be a sandwich because that’s what it’s been called for years and years. We can’t change history.’
As for hotdogs, Garner wrote, ‘Even the Hotdog and Sausage Council states that a hotdog is not a sandwich. These are experts in the area of hotdogs, and if there is a higher hotdog authority, I don’t know what it is…Hotdog buns specifically state that they are for hotdogs only.’