Kansas
Kansas Supreme Court upheld conviction in April 2020 homicide case in Topeka
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – The Kansas Supreme Court upheld a conviction in an April 2020 homicide case involving three defendants in Topeka, Kan.
The three defendants, Diquan Clayton, James Boatwright and Davontra Alston, had been charged in the shooting death of D’Angelo Payne.
Kansas Supreme Court officials announced on Friday, July 5 that they affirmed Alston’s convictions in the Shawnee County District Court for first-degree murder and conspiracy in the case State of Kansas v. Davontra Leonard Alston.
Officials said the court rejected the Alston’s argument that a conviction under a theory for conspiracy punished the same behavior twice, which was an unconstitutional violation of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and Section 10 of the Kansas Constitution Bill of Rights.
Officials indicated the court reaffirmed the longstanding precedent that a conviction for conspiracy is a separate crime than a conviction for murder because conspiracy punishes the agreement to commit murder, while a murder conviction punishes the killing itself.
The court said they rejected Alston’s claims that he was entitled to a new trial based on various arguments of error at the trial court, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying a new trial.
On April 4, 2020, Shawnee Co. District Attorney Mike Kagay said law enforcement officials were called just before 11:30 p.m. to the area of 5th and Western with reports of a shooting.
Upon arrival, Kagay said officers found a 2001 Ford Taurus had left the road and crashed into the front yard of 512 SW Western. Payne was identified as the driver and only occupant of the vehicle. He had been suffering from a single gunshot wound to the head and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said the investigation led to the arrest and charging of three co-defendants.
In January 2021, Kagay said the Court held a 3-day preliminary hearing for the three, which found probable cause and set them each for their own separate trials.
Kagay said in the case, the State of Kansas v. Davontra Alston, 20-CR-1714, a jury trial was held in May 2021, which found Alston guilty of the following and sentenced to 618 months, or 51.5 years, in prison:
- Murder in the First Degree, Premeditated
- Alternatively, Murder in the First Degree, Committed during an Inherently Dangerous Felony
- Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the First Degree, Premeditated
- Criminal Discharge of a Firearm into an Occupied Vehicle
In the case, the State of Kansas v. James Boatwright, 20-CR-637, a jury trial found Boatwright guilty of the following and sentencing had been scheduled for Dec. 17:
- Murder in the First Degree, Premeditated
- Alternatively, Murder in the First Degree, Committed during an Inherently Dangerous Felony
- Conspiracy to Commit Murder in the First Degree, Premeditated
- Criminal Discharge of a Firearm into an Occupied Vehicle
Kagay also said in the case of the State of Kansas v. Diquan Clayton, 20-CR-774, a jury trial had been set to start next week. However, on Friday, Clayton entered a plea of Guilty to First Degree Murder, Committed during an Inherently Dangerous Felony. He was sentenced following Boatwright at 3 p.m. on Dec. 17.
Copyright 2024 WIBW. All rights reserved.
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.
Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.
WIBW Scoreboard
BOYS
5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
- Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)
5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
- Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
- Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)
3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)
3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
- Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)
GIRLS
6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
- Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
- Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)
4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
- Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
- Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)
2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
- Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
- Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.
The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.
The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.
According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.
His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.
Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.
On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
No further information has been released.
Copyright 2026 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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