29 January 2024
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A man from Wichita has been found guilty of the 2021 murder of 17-year-old Erik Stokes.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Jaron Palmer has been found guilty of:
Count 1: Murder in the first degree
Count 2: Aggravated burglary
Count 3: Reckless aggravated battery
Count 4: Attempt to commit aggravated robbery
Count 5: Battery
Palmer is scheduled to be sentenced on March 8.
According to the Wichita Police Department, they received a call at 6:50 p.m. on Sunday, April 25, 2021, for the report of a shooting at an apartment complex in the 3800 block of W. 13th St. N.
Upon arrival, officers found Stokes and a 17-year-old boy who had been shot. Stokes was pronounced dead at the scene. The other boy was taken with non-life-threatening injuries to a local hospital.
An investigation revealed that five people were inside the apartment when Palmer, Breckyn Elliott, and Easton Palmer, forced their way into the apartment. The five people went into a bedroom when the suspects fired shots and hit Stokes and the 17-year-old. The WPD says they believed drugs were a factor in this incident.
Easton Palmer pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated robbery on Aug. 18, 2022. He was sentenced on Sept. 28, 2022, to five years and five months in prison.
Elliott is scheduled to be back in court on Friday, Feb. 2.