After toddler dies in gunfire at Wichita apartment, mom’s ex will go to prison
A Wichita man has been ordered to serve life in prison in connection with a shooting that killed his ex-girlfriend’s toddler last year.
A jury in March found K’veion Darnell Richard guilty of first-degree murder in the February 2024 death of 1-year-old Taidyn Anderson. He also was convicted of criminal threat, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of criminal discharge of a firearm.
Richard, 26, has maintained innocence, saying in court documents that the state’s evidence linking him to the shooting was “largely if not entirely” circumstantial. He claimed in a letter to his sentencing judge that he “loved and took care of that baby (Taidyn),” adding:
“I don’t deserve to be sent to prison for a crime I did not commit!”
Richard, who was one of three men arrested for Taidyn’s death, won’t be eligible for parole until he serves more than 54 years of the life term, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
He was sentenced Friday by Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Goering, who also ordered $2,413.99 in restitution be paid to the Kansas Crime Victims Compensation Board, Dillon said.
Taidyn, who was also called Blaire Jobe, was struck twice in the head by bullets fired into an apartment at Sugar Creek Apartments, 2550 S. Oliver, on Feb. 19, 2024, in what authorities have called a targeted incident. He was in his mother’s arms at the time. She was hit in the left arm by a bullet and another woman was also hurt when the gunfire broke out, authorities have said.
Court records say Taidyn’s mother had ended her romantic relationship with Richard over abuse allegations, that Richard did “not agree to the breakup” and that the couple fought in the week leading up to the shooting, most recently over an Amazon package. Richard reportedly tried to confront and threatened Taidyn’s mother at the Sugar Creek address before the deadly shooting.
Approximately 16 shots were fired into the apartment, police have said.
The other men charged with Taidyn’s death remained in jail on Friday. Jonathan Tillery-Matthias, 22, has pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges and is scheduled for trial in August, court records show. Roames Bonner, 18, is also charged with murder and other crimes. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for May 1.
Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Eagle
