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A Sedgwick County jury on Monday convicted a Wichita man of first-degree murder and six other felonies for his role in the Dec. 14 shooting death of 19-year-old Markez Phillips.
Reginald Dupree, who was 19 at the time of his arrest, will face a mandatory sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 1 by District Judge Joseph Bribiesca.
Prosecutors said Dupree was one of two men who forced their way into an Oaklawn home with the intention of robbing the occupants. One of the intruders shot Phillips before the men left with three big-screen TVs after finding no money. Phillips was visiting his girlfriend when he was shot, prosecutors said.
Dupree also was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and two counts of endangering a child. Sedgwick County sheriff’s investigators said two children, ages 5 months and 3 years, were in the home during at least part of the robbery.
Dupree was one of five people arrested in the case. The alleged shooter, Malek Brown, is scheduled to stand trial in October.
Dupree’s lawyer told the jury last week that his client was at the home at the time of the robbery, but that he had no idea that anyone was going to get robbed or shot.
Regina Stuart, identified in court as the girlfriend, testified that Dupree appeared to her to be a willing participant in the robbery.
Prosecutors said one of the five suspects in the case had dated Stuart’s sister and was a frequent visitor to the home before the couple broke up.
