Oct 16, 2023

Two Kan. men sentenced for murder of woman's boyfriend

Posted Oct 16, 2023 1:00 AM
Moore photo Sedgwick County
Moore photo Sedgwick County

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Two Kansas men convicted for for their role in an April 2020 shooting death are going to prison.

On Tuesday, Judge Bruce Brown sentenced William Moore, 54 of Wichita, to just over 22-years in the Kansas Department of Corrections and Jesse Sweeney, 32 of Wichita, to just over 7 and one half years in prison, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.

Sweeney-photo Sedgwick County
Sweeney-photo Sedgwick County

Last month, 32-year-old Jesse Sweeney pleaded guilty to kidnapping and aggravated assault, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office. 

On April 23, of 2020, police responded to a shooting call at a home in the 200 block of North Charles in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. 

Upon arrival, police found 30-year-old Blake Mayes on the front porch of the home with a gunshot wound to his body.  EMS transported him to an area hospital where he died.

The investigation revealed a disturbance occurred at the home between Mayes and three other individuals including Sweeney, Moore and Mayes' girlfriend 36-year-old Bobbie Williams of Topeka. During the disturbance, Mayes was shot one time, causing his fatal injuries.

Williams-photo Sedgwick Co.
Williams-photo Sedgwick Co.

Police arrested Moore in Wichita and Williams in the Topeka. 

Two weeks after the shooting, an alert citizen called 911 reporting seeing Sweeney at an apartment complex in the 200 block of North Topeka in Wichita, according to  Davidson. Upon arrival, officers attempted to contact Sweeney at an apartment, and he fled out a window onto the fire escape and onto a separate floor of the apartments.

Police closed off the area, located Sweeney, and arrested him without further incident.  Sweeney had previously been arrested and convicted of charges of possession of narcotic drugs, according to Davidson.

In February, 38-year-old Bobbie Williams was sentenced to 27-years in prison, according to the district attorney's office.