Man was the driver in a fiery, fatal crash in Wichita. He’s been charged with murder
A 33-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection with a fiery crash that killed another man in Wichita’s Delano neighborhood in December 2024.
Christian Sheppard was charged with second-degree murder, unintentional but reckless, on Thursday, Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Dan Dillon said in an email.
The charge comes in connection with the death of Chekiel D. Wright, 32, of Wichita, a complaint filed in Sedgwick County District Court shows.
Sheppard was arrested and booked into the Sedgwick County Jail Wednesday afternoon, where he remains on a $250,000 bond.
Police were called at 12:21 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 29, 2024 to a crash in the 200 block of North Charles. They found a sedan that had crashed into a tree, a fence and then caught on fire after the engine separated from the chassis, The Eagle reported.
Sheppard was driving the sedan and Wright was a passenger. Both men were taken to the hospital, where Wright died from his injuries, police previously said.
Sheppard is scheduled to make his second appearance in court on June 5, court records show.
Wright was the father of two daughters. He had been a well-known basketball player at Wichita North High School and went on to play for two Kansas community colleges.
“He made a lot of guys better,” former North basketball coach Gary Squires said. “He brought a lot of passion, which coaches really enjoy. He wanted to win, man. He really wanted to win.”