Wichita drug dealer draws 5-year sentence in 2019 killing over ounce of missing weed
A Wichita drug dealer has been sentenced to five years, one month in prison for killing a 24-year-old Augusta man during a shoving match that started over an ounce of missing weed.
Carver Khalid Soliman, 22, pleaded guilty on Jan. 19 to one count of voluntary manslaughter and one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute in connection with the Nov. 30, 2019, shooting death of John A. Buess-Wheeler. At his sentencing hearing Wednesday, Sedgwick County District Judge David Kaufman ordered Soliman to serve 61 months in prison, the Sedgwick County District Attorneys’ Office said — rejecting a request for a non-prison sentence from Soliman’s lawyer.
In a written motion, defense attorney Richard Ney argued Soliman shouldn’t be incarcerated because his prior criminal history includes only “minor juvenile offenses,” because he was drunk and high when he shot Buess-Wheeler and because repeated childhood abuse and neglect left him with depression and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.
Ney also wrote that the victim was “an aggressor” in the fight that culminated in his death and pointed out that Soliman called 911 to get medical help after he fired shots and cooperated with police. Soliman reportedly shot Buess-Wheeler twice to end a shoving match that had started when he accused the victim of stealing drugs and Buess-Wheeler, in return, accused him of taking ammunition from his jacket, according to an arrest affidavit.
Those actions “are mitigating and certainly not typical for individuals who have committed a homicide,” Ney wrote in the motion.
Prosecutors and police have said Buess-Wheeler was among a small group group of people who went to Soliman’s apartment, 1212 S. Main, on Nov. 30, 2019, to party and buy marijuana. After his guests left, Soliman noticed an ounce of his weed was gone.
He asked Buess-Wheeler to return to the apartment, where the fight started. One witness told police Soliman fired after Buess-Wheeler “rushed” toward him “to tackle him,” the affidavit says.
Buess-Wheeler died at a Wichita hospital after Soliman’s 911 call.
Prosecutors originally charged Soliman with murder but reduced the count to manslaughter when he agreed to plead guilty, court records show.
