We have a brand new updated website! Click here to check it out!

Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in Kansas death

Shumway
Shumway

(AP) — A man whose first conviction in a 1999 death in Topeka was overturned pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter.

Russell Lee Shumway was scheduled for a March trial for second-degree murder in the death of 28-year-old Mitchell Davis at his Topeka home in October 1999.

Prosecutors say Davis was beaten with a 2-by-4 after he woke up while Shumway and another man trying to steal from him.

Shumway’s first conviction in 2000 was overturned last year by the Kansas Court of Appeals, over questions about the credibility of prosecution witnesses, claims of ineffective counsel and because no physical evidence tied Shumway to the slaying.

Shumway has been in prison since his conviction.

Copyright Eagle Radio | FCC Public Files | EEO Public File