Kenneth Thompson

Kenneth Thompson was a 24-year-old man from Hutchinson, Kansas, who his family remembered as an amazing and handsome young man. His mother, Sheila Thompson, said that just before his death, his life was turning around for the best. He had a young son, Zane, and was a father figure to his girlfriend's daughter. Kenneth was preparing to start a new job on the Monday after he was killed. While his mother acknowledged he "wasn't an angel," she said he was her baby and did not deserve to die the way he did.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, June 24, 2017, a dispute between acquaintances escalated into a fatal shooting. Kenneth and a man he knew, 19-year-old Leo Lamont Wells, had both attended a party. After a verbal altercation at the party, Kenneth followed Wells to his car. Around 3:30 a.m., Hutchinson Police Department officers were dispatched to the 100 block of South Elm, near Avenue A, for a reported shooting. They arrived to find Kenneth, a Black/African American male, lying in the street with a gunshot wound. He was rushed to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The investigation quickly focused on Leo Lamont Wells, who police initially named as a person of interest. Kenneth’s mother said her son knew Wells and that there had been an altercation between him and the "supposedly good family friend." The day after the shooting, on Sunday, June 25, 2017, police announced that Wells was now considered a suspect. That evening, at 5:00 p.m., Wells turned himself in at the Law Enforcement Center.

Wells was arrested and initially charged with second-degree murder. He was held in Reno County on a $350,000 bond. In December 2017, Wells pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. During the sentencing hearing in February 2018, the prosecution and defense presented conflicting accounts of the shooting. The defense argued that Wells acted in self-defense, claiming Kenneth followed him to his car after they left a party where there were guns and alleged gang activity. Wells’ attorney stated he was not the aggressor and had been in fear. The prosecutor, however, argued that witnesses said Kenneth was not armed. He stated that Wells retrieved a gun from his car, shot Kenneth, and then stood over him as he lay on the ground and shot him at least three more times.

In court, Wells apologized, stating, "I didn't want this to happen, I didn't intend for it. I was scared; I was scared for my life. Everything just happened extra fast... I’m truly sorry, and I hope the family finds forgiveness for what happened." Kenneth’s mother, Sheila Thompson, also spoke directly to Wells. "How do you kill someone you once claimed to be your brother?" she asked. "One day I’d like to know the real reason why you killed my son." Kelly Boyd, the mother of Kenneth's son, spoke of the permanent loss, stating, "On June 24 our lives were changed forever. My son lost his father."

Reno County District Judge Trish Rose denied a defense motion for probation. In February 2018, Leo Lamont Wells, then 20, was sentenced to less than five and a half years in prison for the voluntary manslaughter of Kenneth Thompson. With credit for time served and good behavior, it was projected he would likely serve less than four years. The case is considered closed, as the person responsible was convicted and sentenced.