COLUMBUS, Kan. – In a plea agreement signed October 7, 2021, Wesley Smith, 25, of Joplin, Mo. signed a plea agreement with Cherokee County, Kan. Prosecutors, pleading No Contest in agreement that First Degree Murder charges were reduced to Second Degree Murder.
- Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 7, 2021, sentence was handed down:
- 165 months for 2nd Degree Intentional Murder
- 32 months Aggravated Battery
- Sentences will run consecutively, so that’s about 15 years and 5 months.
The case is related to the death of Tyler Myers, 22, who was shot and killed in February 2017 in front of his Baxter Springs, Kan. home.
Smith was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter. However in March of 2017 those charges were upgraded to First Degree Murder, and Smith was allowed to remain out on the bond amount for Manslaughter that he had already posted.
Smith has remained out on bond since the original charge in February 2017. It is not revealed how much time he will serve and it is unknown if he will surrender at sentencing.
“We miss Tyler everyday. We are thankful we are finally getting some form of justice, it would’ve torn us apart to see someone like him [Wesley Smith] to walk free.”
SAMANTHA JOHNSON, VICTIMS SISTER, FAMILY STATEMENT TO JOPLIN NEWS FIRST
Family were frustrated that Smith has been out since Myers death in 2017. July 2020 family, friends and supporters staged a protest chanting, ‘Justice for Tyler’, after Smith’s bond was revoked for allegedly playing a role to instigate the Hookah Bar murders in Joplin, Mo., June of 2020. The now-since retired Judge gave Smith his bond back and he was free again.
Wesley Smith is not charged related to Hookah Bar murders in Joplin, Mo. Raymund P. Badios, 21, is facing two counts of First Degree Murder. He is awaiting trial in Jasper County, Mo.
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