Woman sentenced in fatal shooting at south Wichita gambling operation

A 47-year-old Haysville woman who fatally shot an erstwhile boyfriend in 2019 at the illegal gambling space she operated in south Wichita was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 10 years in prison, officials said.

Stacey Jeanie Peters pleaded guilty in June to second-degree murder and commercial gambling in the case that involved the death of 41-year-old Robert Duvaul, who was found dead inside a building in the 3000 block of South Hillside.

Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown, who as part of the plea found the homicide was a domestic violence offense, sentenced her Wednesday to 117 months in prison, or 9.75 years, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

On Nov. 19, 2019, Peters called 911 around 2:33 a.m. — more than an hour after she called a friend — and told the Sedgwick County dispatcher that she “shot somebody that was intruding” when he came at her with a gun, according to an arrest affidavit released in the case. Arriving officers noticed Duvaul had been dead for a while, the attorney’s office said in a news release.

Peters called at least one friend before calling 911, officials said, and several people then went to the auction warehouse and convinced Peters to call 911.

One witness told a detective that Peters called them around 1:15 a.m. and said, “I shot Bob.” That witness told police that after the shooting, Peters said Duvaul had accused her of sleeping with other people. Another witness told a detective earlier in the night Peters said Duvaul is “starting his crap again.”

When officers arrived at the building, she told them that she had been arguing with Duvaul, who had a gun, that he was threatening to damage her property and that he was threatening to kill her. She told police she shot him.

Surveillance video from the seen showed Duvaul with his hands up before staggering backwards and collapsing, the news release said. Witnesses said Peters was known to carry a pistol on her hip when she worked at the business.

Officers removed a firearm from a holster on Peters’ hip when they arrived, the affidavit said. On the same day as the shooting, police said Peters leased the building for her eBay auction business.