Wichita dad accused of abusing, murdering 8-year-old daughter charged in new case
A Wichita man charged with murdering his 8-year-old daughter in May is facing criminal charges in a new case.
Thomas Ross Gatewood, 51, is accused of multiple child sex crimes that allegedly occurred as early as 2018, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. He made a first appearance in Sedgwick County District Court on Tuesday in a case where prosecutors have charged him with one count of rape of a child under 14, two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy of a child under 14 and aggravated indecent liberties with a child, court records show.
“As the additional investigation developed, law enforcement presented their results to the Office of the District Attorney and additional charges were filed in a new case,” Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said in an emailed response to questions. The case “remains under investigation,” he said.
Lawyers listed for Gatewood in court records did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment. Specifics about the sex crimes case have not been disclosed publicly by attorneys or police.
Gatewood was previously charged on June 27 with first-degree felony murder in the May 8 death of Jeanetta Gatewood at their home in the 600 block of North Oliver — as well as a host of other crimes, including child abuse, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated endangering of a child and aggravated intimidation of a witness or victim.
Some of the charges accuse Gatewood of torturing or cruelly beating, striking or kicking his daughter leading up to her death, which police were initially told happened when the girl fell.
Wichita police have not publicly disclosed specifics about what the girl endured nor has the court released a copy of Gatewood’s arrest affidavit, which likely contains those details. The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office contends the Jeanetta was killed while she was being abused or from child abuse.
At a hearing Wednesday, a judge scheduled Gatewood’s preliminary hearings in both the murder and sex crimes cases for Nov. 9, court records show.
Gatewood has a history of domestic violence and child abuse arrests and cases in Kansas and Oklahoma, including one where he was convicted of spanking a toddler girl too hard in Oklahoma in 2009. He was also investigated by a Minnesota police department, but not charged, in connection with the 2006 death of an infant who died from meningitis but had bruises, skull fractures and broken ribs, The Eagle previously reported.
Each of the child sex crimes Gatewood is charged with carries a presumptive sentence of life in prison. A first-degree murder conviction also carries a life prison sentence under Kansas law.
This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 3:43 PM.
