A man accused of killing one person and wounding six others during a party at a downtown venue in Jonesboro in 2017 pleaded guilty Monday, a day before jury selection was set to begin for his trial.
Craighead County Deputy Prosecutor Charlene Henry said Kalius "KK" Lane, 21, of Jonesboro received 30 years in prison for second-degree murder and 10 years each for two counts of first-degree battery.
"The battery charges will run concurrent with each other, but the murder runs consecutive with the battery charges for a total of 40 years," Henry said.
Lane was charged initially with first-degree murder in the death of Monterio Barnes, 18, in the early-morning hours of May 14, 2017, at The Basement, a South Main Street venue that no longer operates. He also was charged with six counts of first-degree battery.
U.S. marshals arrested Lane the next day at his girlfriend's house in Mesquite, Texas.
Henry said Barnes' parents and his sister gave victim impact statements at Lane's plea hearing.
"It was powerful," Henry said.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor Grant DeProw said the case is closed.
"We believe we know who the second shooter is, but we don't believe there is sufficient evidence to proceed," DeProw said.
Chauncey Thomas, 20, of Jonesboro also was charged initially with first-degree murder, but he reached a plea agreement in February after the prosecution learned that witnesses were recanting their testimony that Thomas was one of the two shooters at the party, according to court documents.
Thomas pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension, and the judge suspended imposition of sentencing for five years with the expectation that Thomas would testify against Lane.
More than 50 people had been subpoenaed to testify in the case, according to court documents.
Craighead County Circuit Judge Cindy Thyer granted a motion last week from defense attorney J. Bradley Hendrix of Little Rock for the criminal histories of civilian witnesses who had been subpoenaed to testify in the case.
Hendrix also filed a motion to limit what witnesses could have said during the trial, specifically relating to gang membership and hearsay.
Multiple social media posts said Lane was involved in the shooting, but Hendrix argued that Facebook posts don't fit within the hearsay exception.
State Desk on 10/16/2018