All-day preliminary examinations took place Friday for a pair of suspects at the center of a Riley County murder investigation
24-year-old Jordan Prather and 27-year-old Edward Wright are both charged in the February 2022 shooting death of 21-year-old Joshua Wardi, a Fort Riley soldier gunned down outside an Aggieville bar. The pair, along with 21-year-old Tremelle Montgomery are each charged with single counts of 1st-degree murder and three counts each of aggravated assault. Montgomery is currently awaiting a September trial.
In court Friday, two officers from the Riley County Police Department testified and a friend of the victim from Fort Riley. The victim’s friend, 21-year-old Tyreece Smith, accused both Prather and Wright of causing Wardi’s death by yelling profanities at the group and causing a conflict. While the two suspects in court did not reportedly fire the gun that led to Wardi’s death, both men will face a jury trial in the coming months for their actions.
RCPD Officer Wesley Ulmer, Corporal Seth Scobee and Sergeant Dustin Weiszbrod all responded to the shooting on the night of the incident. Ulmer and Weiszbrod both testified in court on Friday that they did not see both Wright and Prather when the incident happened even though it appears on the bodycam of both officers that the two men appear.
The preliminary hearings are expected to be finished at a later date.
A jury trial on the case is expected to begin Tuesday September 5th before Judge William Malcolm.
