Atty. General asked to aid in Junction City murder prosecutions
By Steve Fry
WIBW
JUNCTION CITY, Kan. -- The Kansas Attorney General's Office has received a formal request to aid in the capital murder prosecution of two men charged in the killings of a mother and her unborn child, in Junction City, a spokesperson said Tuesday.
Mashaun Jay Baker and Jamel Green, both 33 and both of Junction City, face capital-murder counts in the deaths of Jenna Schafer and her unborn child. Prosecutors can seek the death penalty for the two men if they are convicted.
The Geary County attorney's office made the request to the attorney general's office, said C.J. Grover, public information officer for Attorney General Derk Schmidt.
The attorney general's office is making an internal review of the request, Grover said.
Green faces two counts of capital murder in committing the slayings of the mother and unborn daughter, and Baker is charged with one count of capital murder for his role in planning Schafer's death, the Geary County attorney's office said.
Police were dispatched to a house at 948 Grant Ave. in Junction City about 9:30 a.m. on Christmas Day after police received a report of a dead woman at the residence. Schafer apparently was killed by a gunshot.
The charges were filed in Geary County District Court.
Death penalty in Kansas
In Kansas, ten men, who have been convicted of capital murder, await capital punishment. No women currently have been convicted in Kansas courts of capital murder.
Kansas statute defines capital murder as:
-- the killing of someone in the commission of a kidnapping or aggravated kidnapping.
-- the contract killing of a victim.
-- the killing of an inmate in a state correctional facility.
-- the killing of someone during a rape, criminal sodomy, aggravated criminal sodomy or any attempted sexual assault.
-- the killing of a law enforcement officer.
-- the killing of more than one person.
-- the killing of a child younger than 14 in the kidnapping or aggravated kidnapping of the child with the intent to commit a sex offense.
Nine of the 10 men are housed at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
The 10th man, who was convicted of killing a county sheriff, is housed at the Lansing Correctional Facility because a number of the sheriff's friends and family are employed at the El Dorado facility, the Kansas Corrections Department said.
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