Prison sentence expected for Wichita man after guilty plea in teen’s 2019 park shooting
A Wichita man has pleaded guilty to a count of voluntary manslaughter in the Nov. 6, 2019, shooting death of a 15-year-old boy at McAdams Park, near 13th and I-135, according to Sedgwick County District Court records.
Malick D. Garrett, 21, is expected to receive a prison term of 55 to 247 months when he is sentenced by Judge Eric Williams on Dec. 9. The exact amount of time will depend on his prior criminal history.
Marion Wheaton died after he was shot in the chest during a scuffle at the park, where teenagers involved in an ongoing social media dispute had met up to fight, Wichita police have said. Wheaton and another teen had reportedly discussed bringing guns to the park to “shoot and/or rob” a third teen who also had plans to engage in a fight that day, possibly over a stolen gun, according to an affidavit released by the court.
The confrontation turned deadly when Garrett, then 18, pulled out a handgun and fired at least four shots, the affidavit says.
In a police interview after his arrest, Garrett said he’d accompanied one of the teens to the park to protect him and fired shots only after someone else pulled a gun and fired first, according to the affidavit.
Wheaton, a Wichita West High School sophomore, was pronounced dead at a Wichita hospital.
Prosecutors initially charged Garrett with second-degree intentional murder but let him plead guilty on Oct. 13 to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, alleging he had “an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified the use of deadly force.” Prosecutors also agreed to dismiss an unrelated case where Garrett was charged with possessing a stolen Ford F350 truck two years ago, his plea agreement says, although he must pay restitution to the victim.
