Kansas Supreme Court upholds murder conviction

The Kansas Supreme Court has affirmed the felony murder conviction of an Emporia man who was present when an acquaintance shot and killed another man.

The justices returned the 4-3 decision Friday. In the ruling, the majority rejected Samuel Llamas’ arguments that he was only a bystander to the crime. They found there was sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that Llamas had helped the shooter track Omar Flores.

Prosecutors said Llamas was with the shooter when Flores was shot at least 10 times outside an Emporia motel in September 2009.  Witnesses said Flores was killed because he refused to pay for a bad batch of methamphetamine.