Fatal shooting sent driver’s SUV into car, apartment. Now a man will go to prison
A Wichita man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing another man near Lincoln and Woodlawn last year.
Damion Christopher Hazelton, Jr., 26, pleaded no contest on Sept. 25 to involuntary manslaughter, aggravated burglary of a vehicle, being a felon in possession of a firearm and interference with law enforcement in the June 23, 2023, shooting death of 49-year-old Christopher Baker of Wichita. Sedgwick County District Judge Tyler Roush imposed the maximum sentence allowed on Thursday, a spokeswoman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said by email.
Hazelton must register as a violent offender when he’s released from prison, the spokeswoman said. He will also serve two years of post-release supervision, court records show.
Wichita police have said Hazelton shot Baker in the head while Baker was sitting in the driver’s seat of a GMC Yukon. The Yukon then hit a parked car and crashed into an apartment bedroom on the corner of Lincoln and San Pablo around 2:15 p.m.
Baker died at the scene.
A witness who saw Baker in the immediate aftermath of the crash saw cash in one of his hands that later was missing. Someone was also seen rifling through the SUV and Baker’s pockets. A Seiko watch was also apparently missing from the vehicle, a probable cause affidavit released in the case says.
Hazelton previously claimed he should be immune from prosecution because he acted in self defense. Prosecutors originally charged him with second-degree intentional murder, an alternative count of first-degree felony murder, criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, aggravated burglary and attempted theft. Some of those counts were amended or dismissed when he entered the no-contest plea.
Hazelton was given time served in two other cases Thursday: a 2019 case where he lied to police about being shot and wasted resources tied to the fake emergency and a 2022 child abuse case stemming from injuries inflicted on a 3-month-old girl, including skull and collarbone fractures and brain bleeding, that medical staff said was likely caused by the baby being forcefully grabbed, violently shaken or being thrown, swung or hit into a hard surface, court records show.
He pleaded guilty to charges in both of those cases and was initially sentenced to probation, which he later violated.
