On the night of September 29, 2019, Damario Cooks, a 29-year-old Black man, was at Magoo's Bar and Grill in Wichita, Kansas, for a birthday celebration. A dispute broke out inside the establishment between several men, which quickly escalated and moved into the parking lot. In the ensuing chaos, multiple shots were fired by more than one individual shortly before 12:30 a.m.
Cooks was struck by the gunfire.
When police arrived at the scene near Pawnee and Oliver, they found evidence of a shooting but no victim. Cooks had already been taken by a private vehicle to a local hospital with critical injuries. Despite medical efforts, he succumbed to his wounds and died. Investigators learned that some of the individuals at the bar that night were documented gang members, although it was not immediately clear if this played a role in the altercation.
The investigation into the death of Damario Cooks led authorities to identify a person of interest. Wichita police asked for the public's help in locating 42-year-old David Pressley, who they wanted to speak with about the shooting. Pressley was eventually located and arrested in October 2019. He was considered the prime suspect and was subsequently charged with the first-degree premeditated murder of Damario Cooks.
David Pressley stood trial for the murder of Damario Cooks. However, in October 2021, a Sedgwick County jury acquitted him of the first-degree murder charge, as well as a charge of criminal possession of a weapon by a felon in connection with Cooks' death. The weapon used in the fatal shooting was never recovered by law enforcement. While Pressley was acquitted of the murder, he was sentenced to over three years in prison for possession of cocaine and separate weapon charges that arose during the investigation. No one else has been charged in the death of Damario Cooks.
