28 April 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A judge has sentenced a man to more than five years in prison for a fatal shooting in south Wichita in 2018.
The victim, 39-year-old Trenton Custer, was found shot to death in the 3800 block of S. Meridian on April 17, 2018. Police said a neighbor went through a window of the home and found Custer’s body.
Police arrested Dewayne Austin Cope later that month, but he was not charged until 2021. A probable cause affidavit claimed that the shooting stemmed from a domestic situation. It said that Cope was dating Custer’s former girlfriend, and they all lived in the mobile home together.
Cope entered an Alford plea to involuntary manslaughter on Feb. 1. With an Alford plea, a defendant maintains their innocence but admits that the prosecution’s evidence would likely result in a guilty verdict if brought to trial.
The judge sentenced him to 63 months, just over five years in prison.