A plea deal is expected in Riley County District Court Tuesday for the last of the four men charged in the 2019 murder of Tanner Zamecnik.
The plea hearing comes on the heels of a jury trial and subsequent conviction of Richard Goens on six counts, including first-degree murder last Wednesday. Goens is scheduled to be sentenced on March 3.
The fourth co-defendant in the case, Shamar Sutton, is currently facing a first-degree murder charge, in addition to charges of attempted aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and criminal discharge of a firearm. According to Deputy Riley County Attorney Trinity Muth, the 46-year-old Manhattan man is expected to enter a similar plea to that of co-defendant Jaylon Hitsman, who last May, pleaded guilty to charges of second degree murder, attempted aggravated robbery and aggravated battery.
Court testimony revealed that Sutton drove Richard Goens and the Hitsman brothers, Jaylon and Dylan to the Park Place Apartments to rob Zamecnik in a botched drug deal. Dylan was sentenced to nearly 24 years in prison last March on similar charges.
Sutton’s sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. Jaylon Hitsman is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 24.
