A Parsons man faces 16 years in prison for amended charges in the shooting death of one man and the wounding of a second.
Michael C. Morales, 49, 2314 Appleton, was to be tried starting Oct. 6 in Labette County District Court with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and interference with a law officer.
Morales was originally charged with the first degree murder of Maurice Harper, 53, and the attempted murder of Tylor Abshere. The shooting happened late Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in and outside Morales’ home on Appleton, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing in the case. Officers reported that Harper and Abshere each suffered multiple gunshot wounds. Harper later died at Labette Health.
Cpl. Rory Johnson rendered first aid when he heard a male voice asking him to help the gunshot victims and that he had shot them. The male, identified as Morales, stepped from behind a tree with a gun in hand. Johnson talked Morales into dropping the weapon, but while attempting to place Morales in custody Morales tried to run. He was quickly apprehended with the use of a Taser, according to a police release at the time.
A detective testified that he recovered nine shell casings, .380 caliber, inside the living room of Morales’ home. He also found blood evidence.
Abshere testified that surgeons pulled 10 bullets from his body and he removed an 11th himself. Morales has since undergone mediation in the case to try to resolve outstanding issues.
On Wednesday, Morales pleaded guilty to amended charges of second-degree murder and attempted voluntary manslaughter. The sentencing recommendation is for Morales to serve over 16 years in prison, when he could have served as much as life in prison on the original charges. He’s been in jail 14 months while his case has been pending.
David McDonald, Morales’ attorney, said rather than arguing pretrial motions on Wednesday that he and the county attorney had reached a plea. Morales then pleaded guilty to the two charges.
The sentencing recommendation is for Morales to serve 166 months on the murder charge and 34 months on the attempted manslaughter charges with the sentences to run consecutively, giving Morales a controlling 200 months in prison.
Morales faces the lower end of punishment for the crime because of his limited criminal history.
He will be sentenced Nov. 19 in district court. He remains jailed on a $500,000 bond.
