Sentencing is Monday for Topekan who pleaded guilty after invoking 'Stand Your Ground' law
Sentencing is set for 3:30 p.m. Monday for Serena Marie Sanchez, a Topeka murder defendant who pleaded guilty after initially contending the state's "Stand Your Ground" law protected her from prosecution.
Sanchez, 27, and District Attorney Mike Kagay's office entered into a plea agreement through which Sanchez pleaded guilty Nov. 20 to unintentional but reckless second-degree murder in the fatal March 6 stabbing in Topeka of Rodney Clayton, 57, court records show.
Kagay's office had initially charged Sanchez with intentional second-degree murder and intimidation of a witness or victim, records show.
The plea agreement calls for Sanchez to be sentenced to 10 years, three months in prison.
What brought about the killing of Rodney Clayton?
Clayton was found fatally stabbed in Sanchez's home at 232 S.W. Harrison.
Clayton had been charged in January 2023 with battery and interference with a law enforcement officer linked to an Octobert 2022 incident in which he allegedly punched Sanchez, slapped her in the face and dragged her by her hair, court records show.
Clayton was ordered, as a condition of bond, to have no contact with Sanchez.
Sanchez told police she invited Clayton into her home March 6 in an effort to reconcile with him, but Clayton got into a shoving match there with a male guest.
Sanchez said she stepped between Clayton and the guest, Clayton hit her in the mouth and she reached into her pocket for the pepper spray she normally carried there.
The pepper spray wasn't present but a knife was, and Sanchez grabbed it with plans to hit Clayton on the shoulder with the knife while keeping its blade closed, Sanchez said.
Only after Sanchez hit Clayton with the knife did she realize that it was open and she had stabbed him in the right shoulder, severing an artery, Sanchez said.
She said she was scared and went to talk to her mother.
Sanchez said others must have moved Clayton's body. Topeka police said it was found tightly wrapped in multiple layers of plastic bags outdoors on the ground toward the back of the house, near its southeast corner.
Sanchez and her attorneys initially contended she was protected from prosecution by the Kansas Stand Your Ground law.
That law considers a person justified in the use of deadly force against another when the person using force reasonably believes such use of force is necessary to prevent "imminent death or great bodily harm" to themselves or a third party.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Serena Sanchez to be sentenced after pleading guilty to Topeka murder
