Newly unsealed court documents provide more details about a fatal shooting that happened at an apartment complex in south Wichita, Kansas, in May.
Teyante O. Dagans, 32, is facing murder charges in connection with the death of 38-year-old Montel Parks. According to a Sedgwick County District Court affidavit, Parks was shot on May 12 while sitting in a Toyota minivan in the parking lot area of Emery Garden Apartments, located southeast of MacArthur and Hydraulic.
The shooting was reported shortly after 6:30 p.m. Parks was taken to Ascension Via Christi Hospital St. Francis, where he died the next day.
Warning Over Teen Daughter Mentioned
According to the affidavit, Parks’ spouse told Wichita police that Dagans had been speaking to the couple’s 16-year-old daughter earlier on the day of the shooting.
She told investigators that Parks had warned Dagans to stop talking to the teenager. Court documents indicate that this confrontation may have happened before the fatal shooting.
Police later reviewed surveillance video from the apartment complex as part of the investigation.
Video Footage Described By Police
The affidavit says surveillance footage showed a man with dreadlocks, believed by police to be Dagans, speaking with Parks as Parks was getting into his van shortly before 5 p.m. on May 12.
Investigators said the man appeared to have a handgun in his right hand during that interaction. The affidavit states that the man later placed the gun into the front of his pants before Parks drove away.
Police said another video showed a man they identified as Dagans walking from behind a garage area at the complex shortly after 6:30 p.m. The man then allegedly approached the driver’s side of Parks’ minivan and fired one shot before leaving in a Chevrolet Impala.
Authorities said Parks was shot in the neck.
Police Chief Called Victim Vulnerable
After the shooting, Wichita police Chief Joe Sullivan said the victim was in a vulnerable position when he was shot.
He said it was troubling that someone would shoot a person who was unable to defend himself. Police described the shooting as targeted based on the information gathered during the investigation.
Vehicle Reader Helped Identify Suspect
Investigators used a Flock vehicle license plate reader at the apartment complex to help identify the Chevrolet Impala allegedly connected to Dagans.
According to the affidavit, police located Dagans the next morning at a Wichita gas station near Central and I-235. He was arrested after walking out of the store.
When police searched the Impala, which they believed Dagans had been living out of, they found a loaded .380 caliber handgun and ammunition.
Charges And Bond Information
Online records show Dagans was charged on May 18 with murder and four other crimes related to the homicide. His bond was set at $1 million.
A motion to modify the bond amount was denied on June 5. As of Friday, Dagans remained in custody at the Sedgwick County Jail.
The affidavit also states that Dagans was previously sentenced to probation in connection with a 2018 aggravated assault with a deadly weapon case in Shawnee County.
Court documents allege that Montel Parks was shot after warning Teyante O. Dagans to stay away from his teenage daughter.
Surveillance footage, vehicle reader data, and evidence recovered from a Chevrolet Impala are now part of the ongoing case. Dagans remains jailed on a $1 million bond as the murder case moves forward through the court system.