Wichita police arrest second murder suspect in May marijuana deal shooting

A Wichita man has been arrested in connection to a criminal homicide investigation from a shooting over a drug deal gone wrong three months ago.

Nathaniel Eugene Saunders, 22, was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail early Sunday morning on suspicion of first-degree murder and marijuana possession, records show. Wichita police officers arrested him in the 2200 block of South Cranbrook on Saturday.

A police spokesman said Sunday morning that more information would likely be available on Monday.

The case number for Saunders’ arrest is connected to the shooting death of 17-year-old Marcus Sain.

Prosecutors previously charged two people with first-degree murder in Sedgwick County District Court for Sain’s killing. One name was redacted from public records. The other name was Malcolm Louis Ganther, who was arrested the day after the May 20 shooting.

Ganther was also charged with aggravated battery while the second suspect had an added charge of aggravated robbery. A police affidavit detailing the investigation into the defendants has not been released by the court, records show.

Prosecutors allege that the killing happened in the commission of an “inherently dangerous felony” — distributing marijuana. They also say Sain was robbed of marijuana at gunpoint.

Wichita police have said Ganther and a second suspect drove separate vehicles to the Fox Run Apartments parking lot near Harry and Webb on May 20. The afternoon drug deal involved two teenagers getting into Ganther’s Buick car.

A disturbance inside the vehicle led to the second suspect getting out of his Ford Mustang, going over to the Buick and shooting both teenagers. Ganther and the second suspect fled in their vehicles, leaving the teenagers bleeding from gunshot wounds.

When police arrived, they found Sain in the parking lot with critical injuries. He was taken to a hospital, where he died on May 21. The second teenager, an 18-year-old man, showed up several minutes after the shooting at a hospital as a walk-in shooting victim. He was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released.

Ganther remains jailed in lieu of a $500,000 bond. Saunders’ bond was set at $250,000.

This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 12:56 PM.