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Kansas man sentenced in 2020 Overland Park killing of 18-year-old Patrick Miller

A 20-year-old Kansas man was sentenced to more than four years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty in the 2020 death of 18-year-old Patrick Miller.

Joseph Decelles will serve four years and seven months in prison, a Johnson County judge ruled.

In January 2020, Decelles and his friend were trying to sell a firearm to Miller in the 7800 block of Marty Street near downtown Overland Park, according to court documents. Miller told multiple individuals that he was planning to rob them of the firearm instead, documents state.

Miller and a friend arrived, carrying firearms. During the encounter, Miller hit Decelles’ friend with the firearm, and then they began to fight, court documents say. They went over a balcony at the apartment complex, and continued fighting. Decelles then shot Miller, who fell to the ground, according to the documents.

Officers who arrived at the scene that day addressed Miller’s gunshot wound and then moved him to the parking lot so that medical officials could easily get to him.

Miller had, however, also broken his neck, and his spinal cord severed when officers picked him up, court documents say. It was unclear whether the fall from the balcony or the fall after the gunshot caused his injury, but he was declared dead at the scene.

At the time of the incident, Decelles was 17 and had no prior criminal record. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in Miller’s death.