Man who murdered KCK Police Capt. Robert Melton to be sentenced Friday
Update: Jamaal R. Lewis has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. Read that story here.
The man who fatally shot Kansas City, Kan., police Capt. Robert David Melton in 2016 is scheduled to be sentenced Friday afternoon in Wyandotte County District Court.
Jamaal R. Lewis, who pleaded guilty in October to a charge of first-degree felony murder, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Melton, 46, was fatally shot in July 2016.
Lewis, now 22, and several others were fleeing from a drive-by shooting into an unoccupied apartment when Melton attempted to stop Lewis by pulling his unmarked police car in front of him.
Lewis pulled out a handgun and fired multiple shots into the vehicle. He fled, but was arrested a short time later and has been in custody since then.
In his written petition to enter a guilty plea, Lewis said he did not see Melton before he fired.
He said he thought the unmarked car was a police vehicle and that the person driving it was a police officer.
“I shot at the unmarked white car because I was afraid I would be arrested by a police officer inside the car,” he said.
Lewis also pleaded guilty in October to charges of aggravated assault and shooting into an unoccupied dwelling for his role in the drive-by shooting that day.
Melton’s murder was the second fatal shooting of a Kansas City, Kan., police officer that year.
In May, Detective Brad Lancaster was shot to death near the Kansas Speedway.
Curtis Ayers pleaded guilty to capital murder in Lancaster’s death and was sentenced to the mandatory life in prison without parole.
Lewis too had been charged with capital murder and faced the same sentence for killing Melton, but pleaded guilty to the lesser felony murder charge without an agreement with prosecutors.
Members of Melton’s family and police and civic leaders were angered by the situation.
This story was originally published November 30, 2018 at 9:08 AM.