Missouri man acquitted of murder charge in 2019 killing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Grandview man who sat behind bars for 17 months awaiting trial on a second-degree murder charge has been acquitted by a jury.

The Kansas City Star reports that a jury took less than an hour earlier this month to find 25-year-old Terrance Wright not guilty of the charge in the death of 49-year-old Benson Lewis on Nov. 23, 2019.

Police had said the fatal shooting occurred outside Lewis’ home during a custody dispute involving Wright’s child. Lewis was the child’s maternal grandfather.

Wright maintained that he shot Lewis in self-defense. Wright was arrested at the scene and held until his trial, because he was unable to raise the $250,000 cash bond set.