A 56-year-old Wichita man has been sentenced to 363 months in prison, roughly 30 years and three months, after admitting he killed two men in separate shootings nearly two years apart in the city. Kevin Buggs pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the June 2026 death of 59-year-old Stevie Lee Young and to involuntary manslaughter in the September 2024 death of 50-year-old Ronnie Wallace.
Sedgwick County District Judge Jeffrey Goering handed down the sentence, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office, as reported by Hays Post. Buggs entered his guilty pleas in August, admitting to killing both Young and Wallace; he was sentenced Thursday, October 29, 2026.
Young's death came first in the headlines, though it happened second chronologically. Wichita police responded to a shooting-with-injuries call in the 400 block of North Market Street in June 2026, where first responders found Young inside his car suffering from a gunshot wound. EMS rushed him to a local hospital in critical condition, and he was later pronounced dead there, according to Hays Post's account of the case. The Wichita Eagle reports that Young was found shot inside his car on June 14 in downtown Wichita and died at a Wichita hospital hours later.
A Second Killing, Two Years Earlier
Wallace's death predates Young's by nearly two years. Wichita police responded to a shooting report in the 600 block of North Topeka in September 2024, where first responders found Wallace lying in a parking lot with a fatal gunshot wound. He was transported to an area hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, per Hays Post's reporting. The Wichita Eagle's report similarly notes that Wallace died at a hospital after being shot in that same block.
Investigators determined the circumstances leading to the shooting using available departmental tools, according to Hays Post. Buggs was ultimately booked into the Sedgwick County Jail in connection with the crime, per county arrest records cited in that reporting. The Wichita Eagle also reports Buggs was arrested in June, around the time Young was killed.
Guilty Pleas Tied Both Cases Together
The two deaths, separated by location, time, and circumstance, were resolved together in court when Buggs entered guilty pleas in August. He admitted to one count of voluntary manslaughter related to Young's death and one count of involuntary manslaughter related to Wallace's death, according to Hays Post. The pleas involved two different manslaughter charges.
With sentencing now complete, Buggs faces a term of 363 months behind bars, a figure confirmed by the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office and reported by both Hays Post and the Wichita Eagle. Neither outlet's available reporting specifies whether the sentence includes separate consecutive terms for each manslaughter count or how parole eligibility may factor into his time served.
