KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A former Jackson County sheriff’s deputy who shot a woman in the back, wounding her, has been sentenced to 180 days in jail and four years of probation.
Lauren N. Michael, 31, was sentenced Thursday in the Aug. 8, 2019, shooting of Brittany Simek in downtown Kansas City.
That shooting came two years after Michael shot and killed a suspected shoplifter at a Raytown Walmart while working as an off-duty security guard. No charges were filed in that shooting.
In the 2019 shooting, Michael said she confronted Simek after seeing her riding a Bird scooter in the wrong direction. She said Simek resisted arrest and was able to stun Michael with the deputy’s stun gun. Michael said she then shot Simek with her firearm because she feared Simek would take it from her, too.
Simek’s version of events differed greatly from Michael’s. Simek testified that her hands were in the air when Michael pulled her to the ground and used a stun gun on her. She said she reacted by pushing away from Michael and running, and was then shot in the back, prosecutors said.
Investigators said the evidence did not support Michael’s version of events. Cartridges from the stun gun had been deployed within 3 seconds, which was not enough time for the struggle Michael described, prosecutors said.
Michael pleaded guilty in January to first-degree assault. She did not make a statement during the hearing, The Kansas City Star reported.
Prosecutors had sought a six-year sentence for Michael, saying she was “absolutely unreasonable” when she shot Simek in the back.
Under the plea agreement, Michael was given a six-year suspended sentence, with three years of probation.
Defense attorney Molly Hastings argued that Michael had post-traumatic stress disorder at the time of the shooting and that she would not reoffend.
In the 2017 shooting, Michael shot and killed Donald Sneed III, a shoplifting suspect. Michael also claimed in that case that Sneed took her stun gun and shocked her with it.
His mother, Gayle Sneed, said in a statement before Thursday’s sentencing that she was angry after hearing that Michael had shot a second person.
Michael will report to the Andrew County Jail on April 2. She was fired from the sheriff’s department on Jan. 26 and is barred from working in law enforcement.
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