A Wichita woman who was charged with first-degree murder in a hit-and-run and a shooting in the northeast part of Wichita has pled guilty to a lesser charge.
A jury trial for 32-year-old Charity Blackmon was scheduled to begin today, but the district attorney’s office said she pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree intentional murder and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
Police say Blackmon hit 54-year-old bicyclist Merrill Rabus with her van at 13th & Oliver a year ago; they say she then got out of her van and fired a shot from a handgun, striking him.
Police say witnesses followed Blackmon as she drove from the scene; she was later arrested near 14th & Green.
After she was charged, she was released on bond. In September last year she was back in jail. Prosecutors said Blackmon violated the conditions of her bond by traveling to Newkirk, Oklahoma.
The district attorney’s office said in the terms of the plea agreement, the parties anticipate Blackmon will be sentenced to at least 46 years in prison.
The judge scheduled her sentencing for May 9.