WICHITA, KS – A Kansas man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery in connection with the December 2023 shooting death of Daniel McPherson in Wichita.
James Sawyer, 21, entered his plea on Tuesday in Judge Jeffrey Goering’s courtroom, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office.
The investigation into McPherson’s death began on December 6, 2023, when the Blackwell, Oklahoma Police Department contacted Sedgwick County Dispatch. They reported that two individuals, identified as Sawyer and 18-year-old Phillip Walls, had arrived at a Blackwell hospital, with one of them suffering from a gunshot wound.
Following discussions with the two individuals, Blackwell Police shared information with Sedgwick County Dispatch, leading the Wichita Police Department to respond to the area of Hydraulic and MacArthur. There, officers discovered 34-year-old Daniel McPherson with a fatal gunshot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Homicide investigators from Wichita were dispatched and subsequently traveled to Blackwell, Oklahoma, where Walls and Sawyer, then 19, of Wichita, were in custody.
Last year, in 2024, Phillip Walls also pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to the shooting and was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison, as confirmed by the district attorney’s office. Sawyer now awaits sentencing for his role in McPherson’s death.
