Wichita man sentenced for killing 55-year-old woman in her apartment during break-in
A Wichita man has been ordered to serve 74 1/2 years to life in prison for killing a woman in her apartment on Oct. 8, 2016.
Robert E. Smith, 44, was convicted in May by a Sedgwick County jury in connection with the shooting death of 55-year-old Donna O’Neal of Wichita. He was sentenced Friday by Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Syrios on counts of first-degree murder, aggravated burglary, attempted aggravated robbery, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and two counts of aggravated assault, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
O’Neal was gunned down around 9:15 p.m. Oct. 8, 2016, in her home at Water’s Edge Apartments, near Central and Waco, after an armed intruder later identified by police as Smith broke in, intending to rob people there. O’Neal was shot during an ensuing altercation. She later died at a Wichita hospital from multiple gunshot wounds, including to her abdomen and legs, according to her autopsy report.
