Woman convicted of Wichita high school student’s killing gets prison

A woman convicted of a Wichita high school student’s 2016 killing has been ordered to serve 71 months in prison for voluntary manslaughter and criminal discharge of a firearm, according to Sedgwick County District Court records.

Terasha Diane Presley-Dupree, 20, pleaded guilty in July in the death of 18-year-old Debrylan Bell, who was fatally shot as he sat in his car outside of Woodgate Apartments on Oct. 5, 2016.

Witnesses told authorities they saw then-18-year-old Presley-Dupree and another teen, Dennis Saquan McGaugh III, speeding away from the apartment complex parking lot, near 21st and Oliver, in a black sport-utility vehicle after 20 to 30 rounds were fired into Bell’s car.

Bell was hit at least six times, according to his autopsy report. He was a senior at Wichita North High School at the time.

Sedgwick County District Judge Ben Burgess handed down Presley-Dupree’s sentence Aug. 8 after her attorney argued for leniency. McGaugh also received a 71-month prison sentence in June.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett has previously said Bell’s killing was connected to some sort of “dispute among acquaintances” and “was not a random act.” But the exact motivation remains unclear.

This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 11:55 AM.