He shot a man in the back during drug deal, cops said. Jury finds him guilty of murder

A Kansas man who claimed self-defense when shooting a man in the back during a drug deal gone wrong has been found guilty of murder.

Brennan R. Trass was found guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm by a felon, Reno County District Attorney Keith Schroeder said in a news release. The jury deliberated for less than 45 minutes. Trass represented himself for most of the trial.

The conviction comes after Jose Morales was shot and killed during an illegal drug deal at a Hutchinson home in August 2015.

“The evidence was overwhelming,” Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton said in the release. “Brennan Trass possessed a firearm and shot Jose Morales twice. Trass claimed self-defense, but Morales was overheard saying, ‘No, no.’ Trass fired one bullet into his back severing his spinal cord. Trass was there to buy drugs.”

“Sadly, this case demonstrates the dangerousness associated with illegal drugs in our community,” Stanton said. “Drug crimes are not victimless crimes.”

Sentencing is scheduled for May 10.

Trass has previously spent time in the state prison system before being discharged in 2010.

Kansas Department of Corrections records show Brennan Roosevelt Trass, age 34, also went by B-Trass and Trizzle. He had been sentenced to prison in 2003 after he was convicted in Reno County of unlawful voluntary sexual relations and obstructing the legal process. He was also convicted of a 2003 aggravated burglary in McPherson County.