Plan to steal from man in church parking lot turned deadly. Now Derby man will go to prison

A Sedgwick County judge has sentenced an 18-year-old Derby man to 27 1/2 years in prison in the fatal shooting of a 34-year-old Wichita man last year, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Philip Lee Walls, whose name is also spelled “Phillip” in police and court records, pleaded guilty on March 11 to second-degree intentional murder, attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping in the December 2023 death of Daniel McPherson . Walls and another man, 20-year-old James Giovanni Lee Sawyer, were arrested in Oklahoma, after going to a hospital there so Walls could be treated for a gunshot wound. At about 2 a.m. on Dec. 6, 2023, authorities in Oklahoma notified Sedgwick County emergency dispatch, who in turn contacted the Wichita Police Department.

Police found McPherson dead from a gunshot wound to his head near a church at 1755 E. MacArthur, near Hydraulic, after receiving information that his body would be there.

Sawyer, who is charged with first-degree felony murder and two counts of attempted aggravated robbery, has pleaded not guilty to his charges, court records show. His trial is set for Aug. 26.

A factual basis for Walls’ plea that was attached to his plea agreement gives this account of the killing:

Walls and Sawyer decided to rob McPherson of drugs or other property on Dec. 5, 2023, and swapped texts and spoke in person about their plans, which included bringing a gun and making McPherson sit in their vehicle with a belt around his neck while they stole from him.

They talked about using the gun as “a last resort because they did not want to have a ‘body’ to deal with,” the factual basis says.

That night, they invited McPherson into the car and drove to an empty parking lot next to the church. When Sawyer looped the belt around McPherson’s neck and head to try to rob him, McPherson pulled a gun and shot Walls, who was in the driver’s seat. Sawyer then allegedly pulled a .38-caliber revolver and fired at McPherson several times. At least one bullet struck McPherson’s head.

Walls and Sawyer then dumped McPherson’s body and drove away, met up with a girlfriend and eventually headed to the Oklahoma hospital “because they did not want to attract law enforcement attention by getting treatment for Walls’ injuries in the Wichita area,” according to the factual basis.

On Friday, Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Goering told Walls he would serve consecutive 165-month prison sentences for each of the murder and kidnapping counts. The 34-month term he ordered for the attempted robbery will be served concurrent to the others, Dillon said.

Man fired ‘deliberate, intentional shots’ at Wichita cops. He’s going to prison

Anger over new romance led Wichita man to strangle his child’s mother and kill a man

Man won’t be charged in deadly shooting of another Wichita man. Here’s why