Man guilty of shooting spree that killed cows in Leavenworth County

The last defendant in a shooting spree that killed several cows in Leavenworth County has been found guilty of criminal damage to property and animal cruelty charges.

Christopher Wright, 20, of Overland Park, pleaded no contest to the charges Wednesday and was found guilty in Leavenworth County District Court, according to Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson.

Wright was one of four defendants to have been found guilty in the shootings. Marcel Timmons, 20, of Manhattan, Kan., and two others, whose names were not released because they are under 18 years old, pleaded guilty last year.

The shooting spree occurred Aug. 11, 2016, near 187th Street and Mt. Olivet Road in rural Leavenworth County. Deputies responded to the area on reports of shots fired. They stopped a white truck and found the defendants, who were all teenagers at the time.

Over the next few days, several cows were found dead of gunshot wounds on two separate properties. The wounds were found in different areas including the leg, neck and head.

One cow was found alive, but had to be euthanized. Another one had run after being shot and died in a creek bed. The victims told authorities that the teens had caused more than $16,000 in damage.

When questioned by deputies, the defendants admitted to shooting the cows. They had no justification for the shootings.

Wright will be sentenced next month.

Timmons and a teenager from Leavenworth were sentenced in May 2017 and each were granted one year of probation. A teenager from Olathe was sentenced in February 2107 to 6 months of probation.

All four defendants are to pay full restitution.

"The victims' concerns have been the restitution," Thompson said. "These cows are their livelihood. My concern is that this isn't like hunting. There was no reason why anyone should think it would be OK to kill these animals."

This story was originally published May 16, 2018 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Man guilty of shooting spree that killed cows in Leavenworth County."