On a Wednesday afternoon in Wellington, Kansas, the life of a 34-year-old Caucasian male named Travis A. Schneider was tragically cut short. On July 22, 2020, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Schneider was driving his Ford Ranger pickup truck westbound on U.S. 160. A female passenger was with him in the vehicle. As they drove, a dark red Pontiac Bonneville pulled up alongside them.
Inside that car were the driver, Noah Moody, and a passenger named Walter Edward Taylor III.
An argument broke out between the occupants of the two vehicles. During the dispute, Taylor invited Schneider to pull over and fight, but Schneider declined, telling him to leave them alone. At this point, Taylor reportedly shouted that he was a member of the "Bloods" gang, pointed a handgun at Schneider, and fired a single shot. The bullet struck Travis Schneider in the upper chest. Despite being fatally wounded, Schneider managed to pull his truck over to the side of the road before he died at the scene. His passenger was left unharmed but a witness to the sudden violence.
After the shooting, Noah Moody, the driver of the Bonneville, did not stop to render aid or contact the police. Instead, he drove Taylor home at Taylor's request. Moody then went to a relative's house, where he parked the car in the backyard. Police located him there a couple of hours later. In a surprising turn, Walter Taylor himself called 911 later that afternoon to turn himself in. He was arrested and initially held on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Walter Edward Taylor III, who was 21 at the time, later pleaded guilty to the charge of second-degree murder. As part of a plea agreement, other charges, including criminal threat and criminal discharge of a firearm, were dismissed. The driver of the car, 23-year-old Noah Moody, faced his own legal consequences. He was charged with three felonies, including aiding a felony by obstructing apprehension and aiding and abetting in the criminal discharge of a firearm.
