In the early morning hours of September 15, 2022, a gathering of several people outside a residence in the Riverside Mobile Home Community in south Wichita, Kansas, took a fatal turn. Twenty-one-year-old Devin Bills, a White male, was in the company of others when a verbal argument broke out. The dispute escalated violently, resulting in gunshots being fired. Police were dispatched to the 4500 block of South Hydraulic at 1:36 a.m. and found Devin Bills unresponsive with two gunshot wounds to his upper body. Despite life-saving measures attempted by officers and EMS, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The investigation into the shooting led police to identify 19-year-old Laquavion Bentley as the suspect who fled the scene in a vehicle after the incident. Bentley was arrested and initially booked on suspicion of second-degree murder. Witnesses provided differing accounts of the argument, with some suggesting it started over comments about people wanting to leave and accusations involving fake drugs. According to a probable cause affidavit, both Bills and Bentley were armed, and at least one witness claimed that Bills had fired shots first. The gathering reportedly involved the consumption of alcohol and "Xanax bars".
Legal proceedings against Laquavion Bentley took a complex path. The initial requested charge of second-degree murder was later changed to criminal discharge of a firearm, two counts of aggravated assault, and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Ultimately, as part of plea negotiations involving other unrelated cases, the charges against Bentley connected to the death of Devin Bills were dismissed in August 2024. In a federal case arising from the same incident, Bentley pleaded guilty in December 2023 to possession of an unregistered firearm for a silencer found during a search of his home after the shooting and was sentenced to time served in February 2024.
