Man charged with murder in fatal Leavenworth shooting: prosecutor

A 33-year-old man is charged with murder after one person was found shot to death inside a Leavenworth apartment early Wednesday morning.

Ryan C. Cheatham, of Leavenworth, was charged Thursday with second-degree murder and illegal firearm possession, Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said in a statement Thursday. Cheatham is accused of shooting and killing Warren Lyndon Simon Jr.

Leavenworth police were dispatched Wednesday to the 700 Block of Osage Street on a reported shooting, Deputy Chief Dan Nicodemus said in an earlier statement. Officers found Simon dead when they arrived.

Information provided to police led to Cheatham’s arrest a short distance from the scene, Nicodemus said.

The circumstances that led up to the shooting were not immediately known. Online court records did not list an attorney for Cheatham as of Thursday evening.

According to the charges, Cheatham was barred from owning a firearm because of a previous felony conviction for robbery. He was allegedly found in possession of a 9mm handgun.