Fourth defendant in 2019 botched cocaine deal killing at Wichita motel enters guilty plea
The fourth defendant in a fatal 2019 motel shooting on South Broadway has resolved his criminal case with a guilty plea.
Cassell Peterson, who was involved in the Nov. 24, 2019, killing of a drug dealer during a botched cocaine sale at the Country Side Inn, on Tuesday admitted to one count of involuntary manslaughter, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office and court records. He is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 2 by Judge David Dahl.
The 60-year-old Wichitan is the last person to be convicted in connection with the death of 55-year-old Timothy Austin, whom prosecutors and police have said was shot in the arm and chest when an arrangement to buy crack cocaine in the parking lot of the motel, 803 S. Broadway, soured during a fight over the amount of drugs in the bag.
After the shooting, the group of drug buyers drove to another motel and got high.
Bryant Bailey, 52, who shot Austin that day, was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for the slaying. The getaway driver, 54-year-old Robyn Murphy, and a woman who struggled with Austin over the bag of drugs, 63-year-old Annette Williams, are each serving more than seven years.
Peterson is also expected to receive a prison sentence, somewhere between around 2 1/2 years to more than 11 years. A factual basis laid out in his plea agreement says he went to the motel with the group to buy the cocaine, helped find Austin’s room when they arrived, waited for the deal to take place and then got high with the others after the shooting.
Peterson’s prior criminal history will play into the exact sentence he receives, which lawyers anticipate will be on the higher end of that range, according to the plea agreement.
