Wichita man will go to prison for shooting death of semi-pro football player
A judge has ordered a Wichita man to serve 20 1/2 years in prison in the shooting death of a semi-pro football player at a downtown apartment in 2017.
Larry Triplett III, 25, was convicted in connection with the killing of 19-year-old Timothy J. Golden at River West Apartments, 550 S. Laclede, on July 15, 2017. He pleaded guilty in October to crimes in two cases, including Golden’s second-degree intentional murder, aggravated assault and aggravated battery.
Wichita police found Golden lying face down in a pool of blood in the kitchen of his second-floor apartment, near Kellogg and McLean, after Triplett and two other men — Dakahri Saunders and Ritchie D. Randle Jr. — went there and fired more than a dozen rounds inside. Police discovered 21 shell casings from three different caliber weapons in the apartment, court records say. A crime scene investigator testified at one of the men’s trials that the bullets were fired through a front window in a crossfire pattern.
Golden died at the scene. He was a tight end for the Wichita-based Kansas Cougars, which dedicated its 2018 season to him after his death.
Sedgwick County District Judge David Dahl gave Triplett the 246-month sentence on Friday, a spokeswoman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said. Triplett’s lawyer argued for shorter prison term, saying in court filings that Triplett is young, remorseful, had accepted responsibility for his actions and only had drug convictions on his record except for this case.
