Defendant in drive-by killing of 3-year-old Kansas City boy sentenced in gun case

A man charged in the 2015 killing of a 3-year-old Kansas City boy was sentenced Friday to 10 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm.

Sulif I. Wilkins, 26, is one of three men charged in the May 2015 drive-by shooting of Amorian Hale. The murder case in Jackson County is pending.

Wilkins was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court, where he previously pleaded guilty to possessing a .40-caliber handgun on June 17, 2015. Because he is a convicted felon, it is illegal for him to possess a firearm.

According to court documents, Kansas City police were looking for Wilkins in connection with the homicide investigation when they caught him with the gun outside a southeast Kansas City apartment complex.

The gun had been reported stolen and previously had been used to shoot at a woman after an argument over a cellphone, federal prosecutors said in court documents. After the shooting, Wilkins allegedly threatened to kill the woman and her relatives if she told police, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Wilkins has had “consistent contact” with the criminal justice system for nearly a decade.

Wilkins has prior felony convictions for robbery, resisting arrest and assault.

“His prior crimes and prior police contacts almost entirely involve an abhorrent level of violence,” prosecutors said in the documents.

This story was originally published October 21, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Defendant in drive-by killing of 3-year-old Kansas City boy sentenced in gun case."