Two would-be robbers brought BB guns to a proposed drug deal, but the man whose money they tried to steal had a real gun.
John Delgado, 24, died from a gunshot to the head in a west Wichita parking lot. His friend, and another man who they apparently intended to rob, are now facing murder trials.
Patrick Unrein II
Patrick Unrein II also was shot the night of May 31, too in the parking lot of Villa West apartments at 13th and West streets. But based on the testimony of Delgado’s ex-girlfriend at a preliminary hearing, Sedgwick County District Judge David Kaufman ordered Unrein to stand trial, charged with first-degree felony murder.
Under Kansas law, people who participate in dangerous crimes can be guilty of murder if someone dies during the commission of the felony.
Rachel Kelley, 34, testified she was sitting in the front of Delgado’s black Ford Taurus when he was shot. She said Delgado, 24, and Unrein, 34, had come to Wichita from Emporia to sell methamphetamine.
But the men told her that while their customer was expecting to buy a pound of meth for $6,000, they only had a gram.
“They were going to take his money instead of sell him meth,” she testified.
The men took BB guns out of the trunk of the car, Kelley said, “to scare him.”
Before Delgado or Unrein could pull their BB guns, Kelley said she heard a real gunshot. The man they were trying to rob had pulled out a revolver during an argument and fired the shot which would hit Unrein and kill Delgado.
Shannon Hutchinson, 37, who prosecutors say fired the gun, waived his right to a preliminary hearing this morning.
Amy Newell, 33, waived her preliminary hearing last week and pleaded guilty to aiding a felon, after the couple led law enforcement on a statewide hunt, which ended three days later in northwest Kansas.
Delgado and Unrein were both on state parole at the time. Delgado had previous convictions for various drug crimes. Unrein had prior convictions for aggravated assault, aggravated battery and aggravated robbery.
Both Hutchinson and Unrein are tentatively scheduled for trial Sept. 12.
