Springfield jury finds man guilty of killing innocent bystander Chandler Sweaney
It took a Greene County jury two hours Wednesday to conclude Paul Morales took the life of Chandler Sweaney, an innocent bystander caught in the middle of a roommate's drug deal that went bad.
Sweaney, a 23-year-old homeowner, was weeks removed from unknowingly renting space to a felon, Rickey Rose, who attempted to sell methamphetamine and a gun to Morales and another man in his bedroom on Feb. 1, 2021, as Sweaney watched television in the living room.
Morales stood trial this week for shooting and killing Sweaney as he and Timothy C. Johnson fled Rose's bedroom following an altercation that left Rose with a gunshot wound to his leg.
After two days of witness testimony from the prosecution and defense, the jury began to deliberate around 4 p.m. and came to their verdict about 6 p.m.
Rose and Johnson each pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for their roles in the death of the 2015 Kickapoo graduate and aspiring real estate agent. Missouri law allows someone to be found culpable of murder indirectly, if they were engaged in a felony act that resulted in a person being killed.
Rose and Johnson agreed to plea deals and testified against Morales, and were among the several witnesses who provided what appeared to be overwhelming evidence against the 31-year-old. A trail of social media messages also implicated Morales in the crime.
Morales refused a plea deal of 30 years with the possibility of parole that would have dropped an additional charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He will be sentenced for both crimes on Jan. 26 by Judge Jerry Harmison.
"We felt pretty confident with what we presented to the jury, with four of those witnesses being there (during the crime)," Greene County major crimes prosecutor Philip Fuhrman told the News-Leader.
Morales was represented by John Briggs. Morales attempted to drop Briggs earlier this year and represent himself in court before changing his mind and sticking with the veteran defense attorney.
With what appeared to be ample evidence against his client, Briggs attempted to poke holes in witnesses testimony, pointing to what he thought were discrepancies in their initial police interviews and what they said on the witness stand this week.
More: Springfield murder trial of man accused of killing bystander in his home begins
Rose, who was shot in the leg by Johnson, was sentenced to 10 years, Johnson was sentenced to 15 years, and now Morales faces a life of imprisonment.
In Missouri, a sentence of 30 or more years is considered a life sentence.
Throughout the trial, several of Sweaney's family members looked on in tribute shirts that said "Do better, be better," which is also the title of the scholarship his mother, Shelly Larrick, created in her son's name. Larrick was also called to the witness stand this week.
"All of these types of cases are very sad, but there was an additional sad element here," Fuhrman said. "There was drug activity in (Sweaney's) home that he was not aware of that led to this."
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Springfield jury finds Paul Morales guilty of killing Chandler Sweaney
