LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A newly released independent investigation has concluded that retired Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS) Superintendent Dr. Demetrus Liggins intentionally distributed a fabricated legal threat throughout district central offices in an effort to “discourage and intimidate” a sitting Kentucky state representative who has been a vocal critic of his administration.
The 10-page report, obtained by WKYT Investigates, details a calculated, minutes-long operation inside the district’s administration building on May 20, 2026. Security cameras captured Liggins carrying a yellow folder floor-by-floor, sliding a manufactured document under the door of FCPS employee and State Representative Adrielle Camuel (D-93rd District) and leaving copies in seven other public locations.
The report, compiled by attorney Leigh Latherow of Ashland-based VanAntwerp Attorneys, LLP, concludes that Liggins’ actions were a direct attempt to silence Camuel, who also works as an administrative support professional within the district’s Office of Pupil Personnel.
[READ THE FULL REPORT BELOW]
Latherow writes that, taking into account all circumstances, “it is my opinion that Dr. Liggins’ intent in placing the email under Rep. Camuel’s door was to discourage and intimidate her from speaking out against him.”
Liggins did not meet with investigators.
The revelation marks a dramatic turning point in a multi-year crisis of leadership, whistleblower retaliation claims, and budget deficits that has gripped Kentucky’s second-largest school district.
The Paper Trail: A Manufactured Threat
The document Liggins distributed was designed to look like a printout of a May 15, 2026, email sent to him by an attorney at Louisville-based law firm Kaplan, Johnson, Abate & Bird.
The “email” outlined an “aggressive and comprehensive legal campaign” against unnamed individuals spreading “defamatory statements” about Liggins on social media and in public meetings. It warned that representatives from the law firm would be physically present at the May 27, 2026, board of education meeting to “observe, document, and identify statements” that could lead to civil liability.
However, the investigator noted it was established before her inquiry even began that the document was completely fabricated. Kaplan, Johnson, Abate & Bird had never met with Liggins, and no such email was ever sent.
Latherow was tasked with determining whether Liggins created the document and why he distributed it. While the investigator found “insufficient evidence” to conclusively prove Liggins created the document on school equipment—noting that Liggins’ personal devices were unavailable for search—digital forensics paint a highly suspicious picture:
11:36 a.m. (May 20): Exactly one hour before his administrative building walkabout, Liggins’ district network search logs show he queried: “best attorneys near me” and “best attorneys in louisville.”11:37 a.m. (May 20): Liggins searched for: “kaplan johnson abate & bird llp.”3:55 p.m. Liggins searched for: “(redacted) superintendent search”Caught on Camera: The 7-Minute Walkthrough
According to the report, district personnel used a vast network of time-stamped security cameras to trace Liggins’ movements between 12:44 p.m. and 12:51 p.m. on May 20, just a few days after Camuel gave a televised interview on WKYT criticizing district leadership and a looming budget crisis.
Video records show Liggins exiting his office carrying a yellow folder:
12:44 p.m.: Liggins is seen placing a copy on a microwave in a fourth-floor break area.12:44 p.m. to 12:48 p.m.: Liggins is seen entering and exiting Rooms 407 and 411 on the fourth floor, and Room 311 on the third floor. In each room, staff found copies of the email minutes later.12:48 p.m.: Liggins is observed on the second floor near a water cooler, where a copy was later recovered.12:49 p.m.: Liggins is caught on camera sliding a document directly under Camuel’s second-floor office door. Camuel found the paper when she returned from lunch.12:50 p.m.: Liggins enters Room 207 on the second floor.12:51 p.m.: Liggins is recorded entering the public men’s restroom on the fourth floor. Latherow noted this was highly unusual because Liggins has his own private executive restroom on the same floor. He exited 15 seconds later; a staff member immediately discovered another copy of the email inside.An IT Deletion and a Middle-of-the-Night Email
Other findings in the report involve Liggins’ behavior after the school board convened in a virtual, closed-session meeting on Monday, June 8, to discuss a draft legal complaint sent by Camuel’s attorney.
During that virtual meeting, while Liggins was alone in his office, he began texting district IT personnel:
8:10 p.m.: Liggins texts IT staffer: “Can you guys tell what people printed in the district?” The employee responds they will investigate the following morning.8:35 p.m.: Liggins texts a second IT staffer: “Does our network keep copies of print jobs?”8:37 p.m.: The employee replies: “Yes, based on usernames and the filenames of what was printed.”
According to IT records, at exactly 8:37 p.m.—the exact minute he received that confirmation—the stand-alone printer on Liggins’ office desk went offline. When IT specialists later examined the printer, they discovered the print history for the entire past year had been completely wiped. IT staff told investigators they had “no explanation” for how this occurred other than human intervention.
Fewer than seven hours later, at 3:13 a.m. on June 9, Liggins sent an email to the school board requesting a separation agreement.
The “Mistake” Defense Dismantled
Liggins declined to meet with Latherow during the investigation. However, in previous communications with district administrators, Liggins claimed the distribution was an accident.
He asserted he was personally hand-delivering letters to employees affected by recent district layoffs, and that the manufactured email had somehow “gotten mixed up” in his yellow folder. He claimed he mistakenly left the legal threat under Camuel’s door and that he was relying on “outdated list information” when trying to hand her a letter.
Latherow’s report systematically dismantles Liggins’ claims, calling his explanation “challenging to accept as legitimate.”
The investigator revealed that Liggins’ assistant had already sent out personalized, mail-merged emails to all employees impacted by the budget cuts on May 18—two days prior. Latherow found that the letter Liggins claimed he was trying to deliver to Camuel was an undated, generic form letter addressed to “Dear Colleague” that his assistant had never seen, was not on the district’s network, and made no sense to deliver to Camuel, whose position and pay were completely unaffected by the staff reductions.
A District in Chaos: Contextualizing the Fall of Dr. Liggins
The findings of this report tie together several major stories covered extensively by WKYT over the past year, illustrating a school system locked in administrative warfare.
1. Placing Liggins on Leave & The Budget Fallout
On June 10, 2026—just one day after Liggins’ late-night separation email and the printing-deletion incident—the Fayette County Board of Education voted unanimously (5-0) to place Liggins on paid administrative leave. The board immediately appointed Dr. Bill Bradford as acting superintendent, later approving a contract addition of $312.49 per day.
The board also formally retained the VanAntwerp law firm to investigate Liggins’ employment, a probe that culminated in this week’s report. Liggins subsequently proposed a contract settlement demanding the school board pay out the more than three remaining years of his contract—a proposal the board flatly rejected.
The leadership collapse coincided with intense public outrage over a $95 million loan the district took out to cover operational expenses. Board Chair Tyler Murphy and the board faced sharp scrutiny for budget deficits, leading state lawmakers Matt Lockett (R-Jessamine/Fayette) and Senate Appropriations Chairman Chris McDaniel (R-Kenton) to call for Liggins and Murphy’s resignation. In January 2026, Lockett went as far as filing an unprecedented petition in the Kentucky House to remove Murphy from the board.
In July, Murphy and the Kentucky Education Association filed a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court challenging Senate Bill 4, a Republican-backed law passed in April 2026 that disqualifies active school employees in large counties from serving on school boards—a measure that would prevent Murphy, a teacher in Boyle County, from running for re-election this fall.
2. Whistleblower Retaliation Claims
The intimidation findings against Liggins mirror a pattern of allegations of retaliation within the district.
On June 25, 2026, Liggins filed his own whistleblower complaint with the Kentucky Office of Education Accountability (OEA), claiming the school board retaliated against him after he raised concerns about the possible misuse of public funds, unauthorized remote work, and weak attendance controls.
However, Liggins himself faces accusations of aggressive retaliation. On July 13, 2026, Mira Beth Muth, the former district-wide Grants Accounting Manager, filed a whistleblower lawsuit in Fayette Circuit Court. Muth alleges she was systematically targeted, demoted to the tax department, and eventually non-renewed after she repeatedly reported the district’s improper grant compliance, questionable inter-fund transfers, and a $250,000 backlog of unprocessed tax checks directly to Liggins.
Muth’s lawsuit followed another high-profile filing by Ann Sampson-Grimes, the district’s former Executive Director of Budget and Financial Planning. Sampson-Grimes filed for injunctive relief, claiming her reassignment to a “Technical Engineer” role was a retaliatory demotion that stripped her of her duties and sliced her salary by an administrative additive of $33,500 per year after she blew the whistle on “fraud, waste, and mismanagement of district funds.”
3. Past Regulatory Sanctions
Liggins’ tenure was already under a regulatory microscope. A 2022 OEA investigation previously found that Liggins and Chief HR Officer Jennifer Dyar had violated state law and board policy by failing to properly post classified job vacancies.
That finding triggered two separate cases before the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board (EPSB):
In Case No. 2254748, EPSB officially issued Liggins an admonishment in December 2023.In Case No. 2557122, EPSB issued a “Deferral for Training” sanction, which was formally finalized in the state board’s January 5, 2026, meeting minutes.
4. The Attorney General Steps In
Liggins attempted to fight his suspension using open-government laws. He filed an Open Meetings Act complaint against the school board regarding the June 10 special meeting where he was sidelined.
On July 15, 2026, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman ruled that the school board committed a technical violation of the Open Meetings Act by failing to provide an adequate verbal explanation in open session before entering closed session.
The AG also concluded the board’s closed-session discussion regarding Liggins’ resignation, the allegations against him, and the appointment of an acting superintendent was entirely authorized under the state’s personnel exception.
Board chair responds
In a statement to WKYT, Board Chair Tyler Murphy said:
“The Board sought this review because it recognized the seriousness of the allegations and, if substantiated, the need to address them according to policy and law. However, the departure – with no settlement or buyout – allows us to move forward with a focus on our students and schools. This is a new chapter for FCPS and we’re looking forward to a successful school year.”
[READ ADRIELLE CAMUEL’S CIVIL COMPLAINT AGAINST THE FAYETTE COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION]
Liggins responds
Dr. Liggins’ attorney, Amos Jones, issued the following statement on his behalf regarding the report.
“The first time we ever saw this so-called investigative report was at 5:33 p.m. Wednesday when my aunt in Pennsylvania e-mailed a WKYT report that embedded on a Web site a 10-page attachment from the same law firm that was reported in June to the Kentucky Office of Educational Accountability for serial transgressions now under investigation,” Jones said. “What are they doing still chasing Dr. Liggins, after they were exposed in the June report filed in Frankfort? This surprise is a new low in ethics and abuse, and I can see why they have hidden it, given that it’s strangely dated August 14, 2026 – five days ago. We don’t believe it.”
Liggins filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that VanAntwerp’s involvement in the investigation was tainted because the district had already publicly displaced Liggins, installed replacement leadership and then used the law firm to examine matters after the board’s goal was achieved.
Jones also said that the report does not answer any accountability questions.
“VanAntwerp is trying to change the subject from fraud, waste, and abuse to Dr. Liggins’s day-to-day foot traffic among offices where he always hand delivered materials to his subordinates,” Jones said “The Kentucky Attorney General’s office already has discredited the lawyers in these cases in their slap-down over the open-meetings violations done on advice of such paid counsel – some of the same folks who facilitated officials’ June faking of Dr. Liggins’s non-resignation that misled the media and the public.”
In the statement, Jones said that this is a final effort to rehabilitate the law firm’s image.
“This is the last-ditch, low-road effort of failed lawyers with a conflict of interest to try to rehabilitate their shattered images,” he said. “Taking the high road as usual, Dr. Liggins will continue to cooperate with the state investigators focused on fraud, waste, and abuse, including time stolen from FCPS by employed personnel, about whom we have a sworn eyewitness statement from June.”
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