Wichita man found guilty of murder of QuikTrip security guard in 2021
A Wichita man was convicted Friday of killing a QuikTrip security guard who told him to turn down his music or leave the gas station at downtown Broadway and Wichita man Laroy Monzell West, 44, has been convicted of first-degree murder in the death of QuikTrip security guard Will Robinson, 39, who was shot in the face in 2021. Robinson had told West to turn down his music or leave the gas station at downtown Broadway and Murdock. West, a husband and father of two known for helping homeless people, had escorted Robinson off the property before the shooting. Prosecutors claim that West taunted Robinson and called him a coward to lure him across the street and shoot him in anger after several punches were exchanged. He will be sentenced on Dec. 8 by District Judge Bruce Brown. For the murder, West faces life in prison without the right to parole for 50 years.
Publié : il y a 2 ans par The Bharat Express News dans General
A Wichita man was convicted Friday of killing a QuikTrip security guard who told him to turn down his music or leave the gas station at downtown Broadway and Murdock in 2021.
A Sedgwick County jury deliberated about two hours before finding Laroy Monzell West, 44, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of 39-year-old Will Robinson, who was shot in the face in an alley across from the store. May 5, 2021. Robinson, a husband and father of two known for helping the homeless, had escorted West off the property before the shooting.
Prosecutors say that instead of leaving, West taunted Robinson and called him a coward to lure him across the street and shoot him in anger after several punches were exchanged. West shot him in the face, prosecutors say, because he knew Robinson was wearing a protective bulletproof vest. One witness testified that Robinson had his hands up before he was shot.
Robinson died two days later. In addition to his work at QuikTrip, Robinson had also served on the Wichita Police Department for about a decade. The store at Broadway and Murdock where he worked the night of the shooting was later closed; the building is now occupied by a Jump Start.
West will be sentenced Dec. 8 by District Judge Bruce Brown for Robinson’s murder, as well as other charges, including two counts of aggravated assault related to an earlier incident in which he threatened him with a gun. La Chinita Mexican restaurant owner Edward Sebastian and Sebastian’s stepson caught him walking through the back of the restaurant on March 28, 2021.
Jurors also found West guilty of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, although a previous conviction for selling cocaine in Wyandotte County in 2009 prohibited that. The jury acquitted him Friday of aggravated assault, alleging he pointed his gun at a man who saw him shoot Robinson.
For the murder, West faces life in prison without the right to parole for 50 years.
West plans to appeal, his lawyer said after the ruling.
West, who took the witness stand Thursday, insisted that Robinson and the men in La Chinita had been the aggressors and that he had been “forced” to use his gun to defend himself, even though there was no evidence that any of the victims took their lives threatened or drew a weapon of any kind.
The night he shot Robinson, he pulled his loaded gun from a zippered bag in his backpack and fired once to “get that guy off me,” he told jurors.
He then walked home, washed and threw away his clothes and backpack, hid the gun under some leaves near a stream or river and contacted friends and relatives who urged him to turn himself in, he testified . Police arrested him the next day as he walked near 19th and Broadway.
Prosecutors Jason Roach and Staci Lane told the jury in their closing arguments Friday that West killed Robinson because he “didn’t like being told what to do” and “felt disrespected” when Robinson told him to turn down his music or had to leave the gas station. . He deliberately provoked Robinson because “he wanted to start a fight,” Lane said.
They argued that West had no right to use deadly force to defend himself because he was never in imminent risk of great bodily harm or death, and state law does not allow someone to specifically provoke a fight so he could hurt it or can justify killing. someone else.
“A fist fight is not great bodily harm (or) death. Shooting someone in the face is,” Roach said.
In his closing remarks, defense attorney Gerard Scott told jurors that they “can’t convict someone based on personality” or for “having a chip” on his shoulder, and that it was up to prosecutors to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that West hadn’t done that. t acted in self-defense.
“The (state) theory of this case is that if you name someone, you lose the right to defend yourself … and that’s not the law of the state,” he said.
He asked the jury to find West not guilty.
“Mr. West defended himself. He has the right to do so.”
Les sujets: Crime, Kansas, Wichita, Murder