In a tragic case of mistaken identity, 17-year-old Caucasian female Allie Saum was shot and killed in Salina, Kansas, on the evening of May 6, 2015. A junior at Salina South High School, Saum was a passenger in a pickup truck driven by her boyfriend when the vehicle was targeted by gunfire. The incident was the unfortunate culmination of a desire for revenge by a group of individuals seeking retaliation for an earlier altercation.
The events leading to the fatal shooting began with a dispute involving Stephen Gentry. Seeking retribution after being punched in a fight, Gentry, along with Macio Palacio Jr., Andrew Woodring, Jerome Forbes, and Daniel Sims, set out to find the person involved in the earlier incident. The group wrongly identified the truck Saum was in as belonging to their intended target. As the truck drove down the 500 block of Russell Street, Palacio fired multiple shots at the vehicle, one of which struck Saum in the head. She was transported to a local hospital where she later died from her injuries.
A swift police investigation led to the arrest of six individuals in connection with the crime. Macio Palacio Jr., the shooter, was charged with and convicted of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and other charges. He received a "hard 50" life sentence, meaning he will not be eligible for parole for 50 years. Stephen Gentry, who instigated the plot for revenge, was also found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Several other individuals faced legal consequences for their roles in the events of that night. Andrew Woodring, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, was prosecuted as an adult and pleaded no contest to felony murder, receiving a life sentence with parole eligibility after 25 years. Jerome Forbes and Daniel Sims faced lesser charges, including involuntary manslaughter, for their involvement. Sims testified against some of the other defendants as part of a plea agreement. A sixth person, Azucena Garcia-Ferniza, was charged with obstruction for attempting to hide the murder weapon.
