An inmate whose crime once forced Kansas lawmakers to rewrite the rules for social worker safety has died in his prison cell. Andrew Ellmaker, 39, was found dead Tuesday inside El Dorado Correctional Facility, more than two decades after he killed Overland Park case manager Teri Zenner during a visit to his family's home.
The Kansas Department of Corrections said jail staff and medical personnel administered life-saving measures but were unable to revive Ellmaker, according to KSHB 41 Kansas City. His cause of death is pending an autopsy. He had been photographed for a Kansas Department of Corrections mug shot in 2018 and was serving a 565-month sentence stemming from his first-degree murder and aggravated battery convictions out of Johnson County.
Ellmaker was 17 years old on August 17, 2004, when he attacked Zenner, a 26-year-old case manager for the Johnson County Mental Health Center, inside his Overland Park home. Zenner had worked with him for nearly a year to help him develop life skills, and the visit that day was meant to confirm he was taking his prescribed mental health medication, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.
A Hostage Situation That Turned Fatal
According to federal congressional testimony recorded in the case, Ellmaker held Zenner hostage in his bedroom until his mother returned home, heard cries for help, and threatened to call police. That confrontation prompted Zenner to attempt an escape, during which she was fatally stabbed. His mother, Sue Ellmaker, was also stabbed as she tried to intervene before fleeing to call authorities, per the same congressional record.
A Johnson County jury convicted Ellmaker of first-degree murder in May 2007 for stabbing Zenner to death and attacking her with a chainsaw, along with aggravated battery for injuring his mother during the assault. The Journal-World's coverage at the time detailed the brutal nature of the crime and its legal aftermath. Ellmaker had a lengthy history of mental illness, having been diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder before the attack, though his defense attorneys chose not to present a mental defect defense at trial.
Conviction Upheld, Then Codified Into Law
In December 2009, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld Ellmaker's 50-year sentence, according to court records cited by Social Workers Speak.
Zenner's murder did not stay contained to the courtroom. By 2010, Kansas had adopted legislation requiring safety training, a bill strongly advocated by Zenner's widower, Matt Zenner, the Journal-World reported. Three years earlier, U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore of Kansas had introduced H.R. 2165, the Teri Zenner Social Worker Safety Act, which sought federal grant funding for safety equipment and training for caseworkers visiting at-risk clients; the bill drew more than 100 congressional co-sponsors, according to GovInfo records of the congressional debate.
Why Field Social Workers Remain at Risk
The push for reform reflected the risks social workers faced, including working alone during home visits. Zenner's former employer has continued to mark her legacy locally — in May 2022, the Johnson County Mental Health Center rededicated the Teri Zenner Memorial Garden at The Recovery Place in Shawnee, an installation first established in 2006, according to Johnson County Government.
El Dorado Correctional Facility, where Ellmaker died, is a Kansas prison.
Under Kansas Department of Corrections protocol and state law, a KBI investigation is automatic unless an autopsy or attending physician determines the cause was natural. An autopsy to determine Ellmaker's cause of death remains pending, just days after Hoodline reported on another unrevived Kansas prison death at Lansing Correctional Facility, where an autopsy also remains pending.
