SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas teen who admitted to his role in a December murder is going to prison.
On Friday, District Judge Jeffery Goering sentenced 18-year-old Philip Walls of Derby to just more than 27-years in prison, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's office.
In March, Walls pled guilty to 2nd-degree murder, attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping.
Around 2:00 a.m. Dec. 6, the Blackwell, Oklahoma Police Department contacted Sedgwick County Dispatch, reporting a shooting investigation involving two individuals including Walls who had entered a Blackwell hospital, with one of them sustaining a gunshot wound, according to Officer Andrew Ford.
Following discussions with the subjects, Blackwell Police shared information with Sedgwick County Dispatch. Consequently, the Wichita Police Department was alerted to respond to the Hydraulic and MacArthur area based on information suggesting that the shooting victim, 34-year-old Daniel McPherson, would be found there.
Upon arrival, officers discovered McPherson with a gunshot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Homicide investigators were dispatched to conduct the investigation and later traveled to Blackwell, Oklahoma where Walls and James Sawyer, 19, Wichita, were in custody.
Sawyer is set for a jury trial in August. He’s charged with first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated robbery.