27 March 2024
LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (WDAf) – A 34-year-old Leavenworth man is sentenced for the 2022 shooting of a man inside an apartment in Leavenworth.
A jury found Ryan C. Cheatham guilty last month on charges of voluntary manslaughter and criminal possession of a firearm in the shooting death of Warren Simon Jr.
On Wednesday, a judge sentenced Cheatham to 9 years and 2 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
According to court records, on May 18, 2022, Leavenworth officers were sent to a reported shooting inside an apartment. When they arrived, they found Simon lying on the floor with blood on his shirt.
A witness who was inside the apartment when the shooting happened told police that Cheatham and Simon were in the living room when Cheatham picked up Simon’s gun and pointed it at someone.
Simon said he didn’t like the way Cheatham was pointing the gun; Cheatham then shot Simon multiple times. After the shooting, Cheatham ran from the apartment but was later taken into police custody at a family member’s home.
On the evening of the deadly shooting, Cheatham admitted to shooting Warren but said it was an act of self-defense during an interview with Leavenworth police officers.