WICHITA – The preliminary hearing with evidence for the former 2021 Great Bend High School senior charged in connection with the April 2021 shooting death of a Wichita teen has been continued to 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 26, before Judge Eric Williams in Sedgwick County District Court, said Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. It had originally been set for Friday.

Breckyn Elliott, 19, is changed with attempted obstructing apprehension or prosecution and attempted possession of marijuana. The first charge is a felony and the second is a misdemeanor. For the felony, depending on the criminal record, the penalty ranges from probation to 13 months in jail.

She had been charged with first-degree murder, but that was reduced in November 2021. Elliott was held in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of a $25,000 surety bond, but has since been released on bond.

Also charged in the case was Easton Shaner-Palmer, 19, of Wichita. The attorneys will meet with Williams on Aug. 5 to discuss the case status. 

He is charged with first-degree felony murder and attempted aggravated robbery and remains in the Sedgwick County Jail on a $250,000 bond. 

In addition, co-defendant Jaron Palmer, 25, of Wichita, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Thursday. He is charged with first-degree felony murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated battery, aggravated robbery and battery (a misdemeanor.) His bond is $500,000 and he remains in custody in Wichita. 

He is also charged in another case with several counts of sexual exploitation of a child and breach of privacy. This prelim is also set for Thursday.  

Background

The Wichita Police Department arrested Elliott on April 29, 2021, near 21st and Maize Road as the second suspect in connection to the death of 17-year-old Eric Stokes, who was shot and killed at Morgan’s Landing Apartments near 13th and West streets in Wichita on Sunday, April 25. 

Police arrested Easton Palmer on April 27 at a home in the 11200 block of West Dora. 

Authorities arrested Jaron Palmer on June 21.  

According to the WPD, Stokes and four others were in an apartment when three armed suspects in masks forced their way inside. Stokes and the others went into a bedroom, and police allege the suspects fired several shots.

A second teen suffered minor injuries in the shooting. Investigators believe the incident was drug related.