Suspect in shooting of 11-year-old was just released from Kan. prison

SEDGWICK COUNTY—A Kansas man accused in the drive-by shooting at a home in Wichita that critically injured an 11-year-old girl who was sleeping in her bed had recently been released from prison.

On Thursday, police arrested 25-year-old Byron Monroe Purcell on requested charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery and weapons, drug and parole violation charges, according to the online jail records.

Since Nov. 2017 Purcell was in one of several Kansas prisons following three convictions for aggravated robbery. The state also reported Purcell had over two dozen disciplinary violation during his time in prison. He was released in June, according to the Kansas Dept. of Corrections.

Image of the suspect vehicle driving by the home early Tuesday-Wichita Police

He's accused of being the gunman in a shooting that happened early Oct. 12 in a Wichita neighborhood in which bullets hit a house.

A cousin established a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/victim-of-shooting-family-needs-help?member=14541373&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=more&utm_source=customer">GoFundMe page </a>to help the girl's family with medical expenses. She was in the ICU at a Wichita hospital late Wednesday, according to the fundraiser account. — A cousin established a GoFundMe page to help the girl's family with medical expenses. She was in the ICU at a Wichita hospital late Wednesday, according to the fundraiser account.

Police say the 11-year-old girl was in the house and asleep in her bed when she was hit by the gunfire. She was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening. Police say four other people in the home at the time of the shooting were not injured.

The Sedgwick County County District attorney's office had not released when Purcell will make his first appearance in court.

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