Fatal shooting happened during drug deal, Wichita police say

An argument that ignited during a drug transaction led to the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old Wichita man late Friday.

Wichita police said Michael T. Hamilton was shot at his house, located in a mobile home park in the 3800 block of South Meridian, around 11:40 p.m. after he got into an argument with two men during the deal. Officers found him lying wounded on the floor inside, Lt. Jeff Gilmore said. He was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m. Saturday at Via Christi Hospital St. Francis, where he was taken for treatment of critical injuries.

“A fight broke out, shots were fired inside the residence and the victim in this case, Michael Hamilton, was struck twice with gunfire,” Gilmore said. He would not say what type of drugs were involved. The address is near MacArthur.

The two men who Hamilton argued with fled – one in a vehicle and one running to a QuikTrip convenience store across the street – afterward, he said.

Officers went to the QuikTrip and arrested a 23-year-old man who matched a suspect description given by the person who called 911 over the shooting. He is identified in law enforcement records as James A. R. Welborn and was booked on suspicion of first-degree felony murder, Gilmore said.

Police later tracked down the second man, who is identified in police documents as 27-year-old Keeshaun W. Milo. He pulled the trigger, Gilmore said. Milo was jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Gilmore said it appears that Hamilton, Welborn and Milo all knew one another. But, he said, “we’re still investigating things.”

Welborn was being held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bond on Monday. Milo’s bond in connection with the killing is $200,000, jail booking records show.

Neither had been formally charged as of Monday.

Hamilton’s killing is the city’s 31st homicide of 2016.