Gas station cup, sports shop helped police solve Stryker shooting, affidavit says
A discarded Kwik Shop cup and a tip from a local sports store about the early sale of a yellow jumpsuit helped Wichita police home in on a 27-year-old Texas man accused of carrying out a fatal shooting during a youth football game last month.
Maurice Antonio Hall is charged with the first-degree murder of 31-year-old Marquell “Marky” D. Nolen, who was shot several times during an argument that broke out at Stryker Sports Complex, 2999 N. Greenwich, in the 9 o’clock hour on Oct. 21. Nolen died at Wesley Medical Center shortly after he was shot in the torso.
Following the shooting, the suspect fled the scene. But he left behind a few key pieces of evidence that helped unravel the case, according to an arrest affidavit released by Sedgwick County District Court.
One of them was a Kwik Shop cup the suspect was caught on Stryker surveillance video throwing on the ground as he ran away. Police went to a nearby Kwik Shop and found on the convenience store’s surveillance video footage of the suspect buying the drink 11 minutes before he entered Stryker Sports Complex.
The other key piece of evidence was the distinctive yellow head-to-toe jumpsuit the suspect wore to the youth football game that night. Police released surveillance photographs of the suspect in the clothing, hoping it would generate tips about his identity.
It did. An employee of a local sports retail shop, Champs Sports, saw the images, recognized the clothing as a piece of its exclusive athletic apparel and contacted police, the affidavit says.
The employee told authorities “the bright yellow jumpsuit was scheduled for release to the public on 10/22/20,” according to the affidavit. But the store made an exception and sold one of the suits a day early to a frequent shopper.
The employee gave police the name the shopper used on Facebook — “Kansas Kash” — which led to Hall’s eventual capture, the affidavit says.
The affidavit doesn’t say what caused the argument that preceded Nolen’s killing, and police have not given those details. Outrage over the shooting and frequent quarrels at games led the Capital Sports Institute Executive Board to cancel the rest of the youth football league’s season.
Police and U.S. Marshals arrested Hall during a Nov. 3 car stop at Main and Kellogg in downtown Wichita. The 27-year-old was headed to his lawyer’s office that day “to arrange his surrender to police” after finding out he was wanted, his defense attorney wrote in a court document that argued Hall’s $1 million bond should be lowered because he isn’t a flight risk.
Last week, a judge reduced Hall’s bond to $400,000 in response to the request but said he would be subject to GPS monitoring and other terms, if released, court records show.
Hall’s next court date is Thursday. In addition to murder, he is also charged with criminal possession of a weapon.
This story was originally published November 16, 2020 at 12:12 PM.
