Mother of Kansas killer is headed to jail for involvement in Rice County shootings

The mother of a Kansas man — who shot the Rice County sheriff and undersheriff before killing his father and then himself — is headed to jail, an official said.

Shirley Loder was sentenced Friday to 60 days in jail and then probation, according to Rice County Attorney Remington Dalke.

Loder, who was 67 when she was charged with criminal distribution of a firearm earlier this year, provided her son, David Madden, with a firearm used in the April 29, 2019, shootings, records show. Although it’s unclear which gun belonged to Loder.

Loder had originally pleaded not guilty to the charge, but changed her plea to no contest before Rice County District Judge Richard Burgess issued the sentencing during a bench trial. She was sentenced to one year in jail, but only required to serve the 60 days, Dalke said.

“While I requested she serve the entire jail sentence, I understood the judge’s sentence and believe it aligns with justice,” Dalke said in an email. “A condition of probation is no contact with the victim and their families.”

Madden, who was unable to legally have a gun as a convicted felon, used a .45-caliber handgun to shoot undersheriff Chad Murphy four times, according to court records. After that, he picked up a “laundry basket” of guns and ammunition from his house then headed to his father’s home, where he shot and killed his father, shot sheriff Bryant Evans as he drove by and then killed himself, the records say.

A high-powered rifle may have been used to hit the sheriff through a patrol vehicle door and disable a Dodge truck that drove by the father’s home.

Erin Baker, Madden’s then girlfriend, was previously sentenced to 60 days in jail and 18 months of probation in connection to the shootings. She drove the car — with her young child in the backseat — when Madden first shot Murphy. She then took Madden to his house for guns and ammunition before they drove to his father’s home.

She watched him exit the car and start shooting at his father before she drove off, court records say.

She “never once called 911,” the records say.

This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 6:43 PM.