Opening statements are set for 9 a.m. Tuesday in the murder trial of Kamaronte Jones.
Jones was 17 at the time he was accused of killing Keith “Fritter” Peters, 18, on Aug. 26, 2007, during a party in the 1600 block of East Fortuna. Police said Peters was shot to death when he tried to break up a fight.
The Fritter Foundation was established in Peters’ honor help steer young people to an alternative to street gangs.
Assistant Sedgwick County District Attorney C.J. Rieg is prosecuting. Public defender Mark Orr represents Jones, now 18. Ben Burgess is the judge.
A jury was seated today.
I’ve been filing live updates from Cherish’s McCullough’s trial on charges of first-degree murder in a convenience store stabbing last summer.
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Cherish McCullough was 19 when she was booked and charged with first-degree murder. Her case could soon swirl with controversy over a community’s value of human life.
McCullough has pleaded not guilty of stabbing 27-year-old LaShanda Callaway after an argument in a convenience store at 2601 N. Hillside. At her trial, which begins next week, the public is expected to see for the first time a security video of the stabbing that raised concerns beyond the crime itself.
Soon after Callaway’s death on June 24, 2007, Wichita police chief Norman Williams told Eagle columnist Mark McCormick that the video showed people continuing to shop, some even snapping cell-phone pictures of the fallen woman.
Jury selection is expected to start Monday. Richard Ney will represent McCullough for the defense. C.J. Rieg is prosecuting.
Two of three men charged in the robbery and killing of a 47-year-old Wichita man last summer received their sentences Wednesday.
Sedgwick County District Judge Terry Pullman sentenced Corey Logan, 23, to eight years in prison for his role in the shooting death of Stanley Bloom. Logan pleaded guilty March 5 to voluntary manslaughter. He’ll also be under three years’ supervision after being released from prison.
Frederick Smith, 22, received a six-year suspended sentence after his April 2 plea of no contest to conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery and two counts of aiding a felon. A no-contest plea doesn’t admit guilt but concedes the state has enough evidence to earn a conviction at trial. It results in the same conviction as a guilty plea. Pullman also ordered three years’ probation for Smith.
Both are expected to testify against John Sampson, 42, who is accused of shooting Bloom. Sampson awaits trial, charged with first-degree premeditated murder. Police found Bloom on July 10, 2007, dead in the bedroom of his home at 313 N. Millwood, in the Delano neighborhood.
The three men remained at large for months. Smith was arrested in December during a traffic stop. Logan was found after being arrested on an unrelated case in Missouri and was returned to Wichita to face these charges. Sampson was arrested and charged in January.