Independence woman sentenced to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting boyfriend
An Independence woman faces prison time after pleading guilty to shooting and killing her boyfriend.
On Friday, a Jackson County judge sentenced Katie L. Black, 27, to 20 years in prison in the fatal shooting of Ryan Wheeler, 29, who she was dating in 2021, at the time of his killing.
Black pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, armed criminal action and tampering with electronic monitoring equipment, according to court records.
Just before 8:20 p.m. on July 7, 2021, deputies with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a shooting on East Atherton Sibley Road, west of Patton Road, in the town of Sibley.
There they found Black, who initially told authorities that she accidentally shot Wheeler, according to court records. She later said that they had been arguing and that she fired a first bullet to scare him. Then she shot again, striking him.
Black told authorities that she and Wheeler had been arguing for hours and eventually parked at the end of the dead end road. Black told police initially that while the couple was arguing, an unknown man came up to the vehicle where they were sitting to ask if they needed help, according to charging documents. Black said Wheeler and the unknown man ended up getting into an argument and the unknown man shot Wheeler.
But at the scene, police found three shell casings from two separate guns.
Inside the Chevy Tahoe that Black and Wheeler had been in just before the shooting, police found a pink handgun “in plain view” in the back of the vehicle. It matched two of the casings police found, charging documents show.
Back at the sheriff’s office, Black told authorities that she accidentally shot Wheeler when he walked in front of her while she was practicing shooting. She later told them that she actually shot at the ground to scare Wheeler. Then she shot a second time, and struck him. She told authorities that she hadn’t meant to hit him.
Wheeler was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Black was also apprehended in September 2021 after fleeing house arrest. Authorities said she disabled her electronic monitoring device at the time.
