In the early morning hours of December 2, 2020, the life of 49-year-old Michael Horn, a male, was tragically cut short in Wichita, Kansas. Responding to a shooting call at a residence in the 1800 block of South Main at approximately 4:30 a.m., police discovered Horn with a critical gunshot wound. He was rushed to a local hospital but ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Authorities stated that the shooting was not a random act, signaling that Horn may have been targeted by his assailant.
For over a year and a half, the investigation into Horn's death continued until a significant breakthrough occurred in July 2022. Law enforcement arrested 42-year-old Christopher Eugene English in connection with the murder. English, who was already in federal custody on other charges, was subsequently charged with first-degree murder, criminal discharge of a weapon, and criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. His criminal history was extensive, including a previous conviction for a child sex crime at the age of 11 and involvement as a passenger in a 2019 fatal crash that killed two people.
The legal proceedings against English culminated in a guilty verdict. In December 2024, a jury found him responsible for Michael Horn's death. The following month, in January 2025, a judge sentenced English to a lengthy prison term of over 70 years. The sentence was broken down into more than 51 years for the first-degree murder charge, 18 years for criminal discharge of a firearm, and eight months for being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon.
