Mar 25, 2023

Double-murder: Kan. man's girlfriend died on New Year's Eve

Posted Mar 25, 2023 1:03 AM
Wilking-photo Sedgwick County
Wilking-photo Sedgwick County

SEDGWICK COUNTY —A Kansas man has been sentenced to prison for a double-murder in 2021.

 Michael Wilking, 34, was sentenced this week to 34-years in prison, according to the Sedgwick County District attorney's office. He had plead guilty to second-degree murder.

Just after 8p.m. Dec. 29, 2021, police responded to a shooting in the 3900 Block of W. Fairhaven in Wichita. They found 43-year-old Bradley Michael Reece and 22-year-old Kayla Schmidt both of Wichita.

Reece was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported Schmidt, later identified as Wilking's girlfriend, to a local hospital. She died on New Year's Eve 2021, according to Sheriff's Lt. Benjamin Blick.

-Halstead has a previous convictions for theft, burglary, aggravated weapons and for drug possession and distribution, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections He was reported as an absconder in August of 2021-photo Sedgwick Co.
-Halstead has a previous convictions for theft, burglary, aggravated weapons and for drug possession and distribution, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections He was reported as an absconder in August of 2021-photo Sedgwick Co.

 In January of 2022, Wilking, Jacquellynn Arthur, 28 and Joshua Halstead, 34, all of Wichita, were charged with 1st degree murder, aggravated burglary, and aggravated robbery in connection with the murders.

Arthur -photo Sedgwick County
Arthur -photo Sedgwick County

She remains jailed on a requested charge of failure to comply, according to online jail records.

in three criminal cases, including one where he shot a man to death on Dec. 29, 2020, after a confrontation over a drug debt that was allegedly unpaid. Michael C. Wilking, 34, pleaded guilty on Feb. 1 to one count of second-degree murder for gunning down 43-year-old Bradley Michael Reece of Wichita in the front yard of 3935 W. Fairhaven after going to Reece’s home with others, sparking violence that also led to the shooting death of Wilking’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Kayla Schmidt. An affidavit released by the court says the group went to Reece’s house to teach him a lesson for collecting money from a woman “and for not paying a drug debt” and decided on the way there to rob him “to pay for the disrespect.” Wilking was armed with a shotgun, according to the document. TOP VIDEOS After breaking in, Wilking demanded to know the whereabouts of drugs and cash and ordered others to search dresser drawers and take methamphetamine and computer equipment, the affidavit says. Reece died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds during an apparent exchange of gunfire with Wilking after Reece escaped to a neighbor’s house for help, the affidavit says. Wilking’s girlfriend died later at a hospital where he and others left her after fleeing from Reece’s address, court records say. Sedgwick County District Judge Tyler Roush on Wednesday afternoon sentenced Wilking to nearly 24 years in prison for Reece’s death; more than 8 1/2 years for his role in a June 2020 robbery in which he pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary and kidnapping; and 19 months in connection with a September 2018 aggravated assault where he pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, court records show. Get unlimited digital access Try 1 month for $1 CLAIM OFFER Roush ordered the sentences be served consecutively, or back to back, resulting in the 34-year prison term, a spokeswoman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, Kristin Johnson, said by email. He’ll be subject to three years of post-release supervision after he gets out, Johnson said.