$15 drug deal led to a Wichita motel murder that ended with a 46-year prison sentence

A Wichita man has been sentenced to more than 46 years in state prison after shooting and killing a man outside a west-side motel.

Cory Wayne Bentley, age 25, was sentenced by District Judge Bruce Brown to 554 months in prison for the shooting death of Jackie Jerome, District Attorney Marc Bennett announced Monday. Jerome was 43 years old when he was killed on Oct. 22, 2018.

Bentley pleaded guilty in May to second-degree murder after originally being charged with first-degree murder and criminal possession of a firearm.

A Wichita police detective wrote in an affidavit that officers were called at around 4:02 a.m. the morning of the shooting to the Delux Inn, 8401 W. Kellogg. That’s just southeast of the Tyler Road intersection.

Jerome was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot in front of room 123. He was pronounced dead less than an hour later at Ascension Via Christi St. Francis. Investigators later found a 9 mm Ruger.

An autopsy report shows Jerome had four gunshot wounds, including one bullet that was shot into his back, tore his spinal cord and punctured a lung. He had meth in his blood and urine.

Bentley told police during an interrogation that the day before the shooting, he bought $15 of what he believed was “ice.”

“Cory said he used the drugs and believed them to be bath salts and they made him feel anxious, panicky and feel as if he was going to die and he did not know how to handle it,” the police detective wrote.

Bentley also told police that he was scared of the drug dealer. He got a ride to the motel, saw the man he believed had sold him the drugs, then shot him.

While in jail, Bentley was caught with a metal shank, according to Sedgwick County District Court records. He was charged with trafficking contraband in a correctional facility, though prosecutors later dismissed the charge as part of his plea deal in the murder case.

About a month prior to the deadly shooting, Bentley was charged with gun drug crimes. He was released on bond, which was revoked when he continued to use meth. A warrant was issued for his arrest 10 days before he shot Jerome.

Bentley’s defense attorney, noting his ongoing prison sentence from that separate case, asked the judge to sentence him to 184 months for Jerome’s murder. The combined sentences would mean more than 26 years behind bars, which the lawyer wrote was “a sufficient time to ensure defender rehabilitation and at the same time protect the societal interests.”

The attorney’s motion for a durational departure noted that Bentley spent much of his childhood in the foster care system due to abuse at home. It also claimed that Jerome was “an aggressor” during the incident, that Bentley was remorseful and “he would not have committed these crimes but for the addiction.”

The judge denied the departure request.

Bennett said the judge ordered Bentley to pay $759.50 for funeral expenses and $500 in travel costs for Jerome’s son.