Deuntae Markham is in the Cowley County Jail awaiting transfer to the custody of the Kansas Dept. of Corrections following his sentencing Monday for the Dec. 2019 murder of Gabriel J. Luna.
Markham, 23, had been free on bond while awaiting trial in the case. The fatal shooting occurred on the campus of Southwestern College in Winfield.
Judge Nicholas St. Peter sentenced Markham to 7.5 years in prison, which is a year short of the usual minimum for the charge of reckless second-degree murder. The reduction was part of a plea agreement between the defense and prosecutors in exchange for Markham’s guilty plea.
He was taken to the jail in Winfield following sentencing at the Cowley County Courthouse.
Markham had been facing a charge of first-degree felony murder. That was also reduced as part of the agreement. His age and lack of criminal history were factors in the reduced sentence.
During testimony at a preliminary hearing last year, others who were with Markham on Dec. 18, 2019, the night of the shooting, testified that a group of five had planned to visit the Southwestern campus in Winfield to confront Luna.
The group believed he had raped a female that was close to and considered family by the group, which included Markam.
Markham had a gun that night as some from the group knocked on the door. As he departed, Markham fired a shot at the closed door of Luna’s honors apartment and Luna happened to be standing behind it.
The bullet struck Luna and he later died at the hospital. The validity of the sexual assault claim against Luna has not been determined and he never faced any charges related to that accusation.
Markham left the area after the shooting and was arrested in Aug. 2020 in San Francisco following a routine traffic stop. He was then extradited back to Cowley County and posted bond.