A 21-year-old Wichita woman was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison after a jury convicted her of second-degree murder in the shooting death of her boyfriend on his birthday, a case prosecutors described as a domestic violence killing that unfolded in broad daylight on a residential street.
The sentence closes one stage of a case that began with frantic calls to 911 on April 23, 2024, when officers found the victim wounded in the street and tried lifesaving measures before he died at a hospital. The verdict and punishment also leave a key dispute unresolved: the defendant told investigators she had been attacked, while prosecutors argued the evidence showed she escalated the confrontation, tried to strike the man with a vehicle, then fired repeatedly at close range.
District Court Judge Tyler Roush sentenced Amunique Schare Cavitt to 165 months in prison, which is 13 years and nine months, after a Sedgwick County jury found her guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Norman Eugene “Tray” Carter III. The conviction included a domestic violence finding, court and prosecutor statements said. Cavitt was 19 at the time of the shooting; Carter was in his early 30s. Authorities said she will serve her sentence in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
The killing happened around midday in northeast Wichita. Police were called to the 1400 block of North Minnesota Avenue shortly after noon and arrived to find Carter suffering from multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body, officials said. Officers began first aid until emergency medical crews arrived and took him to a hospital. He was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m., according to a police timeline later cited in court updates. Carter’s obituary said the day he died was his birthday.
Investigators said the violence was preceded by an argument that started earlier that morning while the couple was driving together in a Jeep. In interviews after the shooting, Cavitt said Carter slapped her, hit her in the head and tried to strangle her during the dispute. Police noted scratches on her neck but reported no other visible injuries, according to an account of a probable cause affidavit described in later court reporting. The competing versions became central as the case moved from an initial arrest to a trial more than a year later.
What happened next, prosecutors said, spilled onto the street near the intersection of Minnesota Avenue and 13th Street. Witnesses told investigators Carter got out of the Jeep during the dispute. One witness said it looked as if Cavitt tried to run him over after he stepped away from the vehicle. Authorities said Cavitt then got out and shot Carter multiple times. Investigators recovered seven shell casings in the grass near where he fell, a detail repeated in accounts of the charging documents and subsequent court summaries.
The shooting continued even after Carter was on the ground, prosecutors alleged, portraying the incident as an intentional killing rather than a single shot fired in panic. Police said Carter was hit multiple times in the upper body. The public record described him as a father, and his obituary called him “a loving father” to his young daughter, saying he was devoted to her and that she was the center of his life. That description became a shorthand for the loss as the case gained attention during court hearings and in local news coverage.
Cavitt was arrested later the same afternoon, police said, after officers identified her as a suspect and took her into custody. Prosecutors initially charged her with first-degree murder, a more serious count that carries heavier penalties. She was held in the Sedgwick County Jail on $1 million bond and remained in custody through the proceedings, according to court reporting. Her case moved slowly through the court system, with pretrial hearings, evidence review, and a jury trial that ended with a conviction for a lesser homicide charge than the one filed at the outset.
In December 2025, jurors were instructed on multiple options, including the top charge and the possibility of convicting on second-degree murder. They chose second-degree murder, court accounts said, a decision that can reflect how jurors weighed intent, circumstances and competing claims about what happened in the moments leading to the gunfire. Even with the lesser conviction, prosecutors emphasized that the domestic violence finding attached to the verdict underscored the state’s view of the relationship dynamics that preceded the shooting.
At sentencing in February 2026, prosecutors said the judge imposed 165 months based on Kansas sentencing guidelines and the severity of the offense, and the district attorney’s office confirmed the term publicly. The punishment amounts to nearly 14 years, though actual time served can depend on state rules, credits and other factors not addressed in the public summaries of the hearing. Court updates did not describe Cavitt making a public statement in the courtroom at sentencing, and her defense arguments in that hearing were not detailed in the summaries released afterward.
The case illustrates a pattern seen by homicide investigators in domestic disputes: a conflict inside a vehicle or home that quickly becomes public violence. Police said officers arrived to a chaotic scene with a wounded man on a city street and a crowd of witnesses nearby, creating both urgent medical needs and immediate investigative pressure. Detectives relied on witness accounts, physical evidence such as shell casings, and interviews to reconstruct the timeline from the argument in the Jeep to the shots fired outside.
It also highlights the gap that can exist between what a suspect says happened and what investigators believe the evidence shows. Cavitt’s statements about being hit and choked were included in reports of the probable cause affidavit, along with the observation of scratches on her neck. Prosecutors, however, focused on the witness account that she appeared to try to run Carter over and then fired multiple times, including after he had already fallen. That mix of allegations shaped the ultimate charge decisions presented to jurors and likely influenced why the trial included multiple verdict options.
For Carter’s family and friends, the court process stretched long past the day he died. His obituary described him as talented and creative, someone who motivated others and who loved his daughter deeply. In court updates and news accounts, that portrayal contrasted sharply with the violent way his life ended. The case drew attention partly because of its timing on his birthday and partly because the shooting happened in the middle of the day in a neighborhood setting rather than in a secluded location.
Authorities have not publicly described any separate criminal case for the alleged attempt to strike Carter with the Jeep, and the conviction and sentence centered on the fatal shooting. The domestic violence finding tied to the verdict is a formal label used in Kansas cases that can affect how the conviction is recorded and treated. Prosecutors cited that finding in public statements after the sentencing, framing the case as more than a street shooting and instead as a killing rooted in a relationship conflict.
With sentencing complete, the case now shifts into the post-conviction stage, when defendants may seek appellate review of trial rulings, evidence decisions or jury instructions. Public reports about the sentencing did not detail any immediate appeal filing, and any challenge would proceed on a separate timeline through Kansas appellate courts. For now, court officials say Cavitt has been ordered to serve the 165-month term stemming from the second-degree murder conviction.
Author note: Last updated February 16, 2026.