Early Friday morning, an unspeakable tragedy occurred in Lexington.

Jonathan Krueger, the photo editor of the University of Kentucky’s student newspaper, the Kentucky Kernel, was murdered in downtown Lexington, leaving behind a trail of grief among the UK community and the college media world.

A 22-year-old junior from Perrysburg, Ohio, Krueger was known by the Kernel staff as a beam of positivity and a talented photographer, especially when it came to shooting UK sports.

Some Herald staffers met Krueger at this year’s Kentucky Intercollegiate Press Association convention and at a workshop that was held at the Adams-Whitaker Student Publications Center last year. During this difficult time, the entire Herald staff would like to pass our condolences to the Kernel staff. We are all family here, and know that it is the same in the Kernel office—working at a student newspaper creates unbreakable bonds. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the Kernel during this impossibly difficult time.

The Kernel held a memorial service Monday on UK’s campus, and has also created a scholarship fund to honor Krueger’s life and accomplishments. 

The Jonathan Krueger Memorial Scholarship will honor Krueger’s memory by funding a scholarship for a promising Kernel photographer.

The Herald encourages you to donate to this important fund. There are two ways to do this:

1. Go to http://www.gofundme.com/JonathanKrueger where you can submit an online donation. The page’s goal of $10,000 was passed after only a day of being online. 

2. A tax-deductible gift can be mailed to Jonathan Krueger Scholarship Fund; Kentucky Kernel; University of Kentucky; 026 Grehan Journalism Building; Lexington, KY, 40506. Make checks to Kernel Press Inc.