TOPEKA, Kan. — A 21-year-old man accused of killing two 75-year-old men in Topeka’s NOTO Arts District has now been formally charged with multiple felonies, including two counts of premeditated first-degree murder.
Kristen Knight Wahquahboshkuk, 21, of Mayetta, was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on Friday, September 11, one day after the deadly shooting. He was booked at approximately 6 p.m.
The shooting occurred shortly before 7 p.m. Thursday, September 10, in the 900 block of North Kansas Avenue in Topeka’s NOTO district.
Police identified the two men killed as Warren H. Eteeyan, 75, and Larry J. Smutny, 75. One victim was pronounced dead at the scene, while the second was transported to a hospital and later died.
Formal charges filed
On Wednesday, September 16, Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced that prosecutors had formally charged Wahquahboshkuk.
The charges include two counts of premeditated first-degree murder, along with alternative counts of first-degree felony murder. Prosecutors also filed allegations of criminal discharge of a firearm into a building, aggravated endangering a child and criminal trespass.
The first-degree murder allegations are classified as off-grid felonies under Kansas law.
Wahquahboshkuk remains in the Shawnee County Department of Corrections on a $1 million bond.
The child-endangerment allegation provides a new detail about the circumstances surrounding the shooting. Publicly available information, however, has not established the child’s identity or precisely how the child was allegedly endangered.
Arrest came one day after killings
Following the shooting, Topeka Police released images of a person of interest and warned that the individual could be armed and dangerous.
By the following evening, police announced that Wahquahboshkuk had been taken into custody and identified the two men who died.
The case has now moved from the initial homicide investigation and arrest into a formal criminal prosecution in Shawnee County District Court.
The charges against Wahquahboshkuk are allegations. He is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
This Is Topeka will continue following the case as additional court records and details surrounding the shooting become available.
