Wichita man sentenced for role in teen’s drug deal killing in 2020
A Wichita man convicted in the deadly shooting of 17-year-old local high school student Marcus Sain during an arranged marijuana sale was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years, 1 month in prison.
Jakob Cuble, 21, entered a plea in June to counts of second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery in the May 20, 2020, shooting at Fox Run Apartments, near Harry and Webb. Wichita police have said Sain, Cuble and other men — Nathaniel Saunders and Malcolm Ganther, also of Wichita — met in the apartment complex’s parking lot for the drug deal, where Sain was supposed to buy two ounces of marijuana from Ganther.
According to court records, Sain brought Cuble along and Ganther asked his friend — Saunders — to “act as a lookout” for him. But the transaction soured when Cuble and Sain reportedly pulled guns as packaged marijuana was being passed around Ganther’s car.
When Saunders saw the weapons, he ran over, fatally shot Sain in the head and repeatedly fired at Cuble, court records say.
Authorities found Sain in the parking lot and took him to the hospital. He died the next day.
Cuble ran off after returning fire and later sought hospital care on his own for his gunshot wounds, authorities have said.
Cuble, who was 18 when Sain died, was arrested more than a year later, after authorities offered a cash reward for tips on his whereabouts.
In a written motion seeking leniency in sentencing, his lawyer wrote that Cuble suffered five gunshot wounds, “coming very close to being the second murder victim” that day, and fired his own gun in self-defense.
Ganther, who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated battery, was sentenced to 10 years, 3 months in prison last month, court records show. Saunders pleaded guilty to the same charges ahead of his June jury trial and is awaiting sentencing.
Sedgwick County District Judge Kevin Mark Smith handed down Cuble’s sentence, Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Dan Dillon said.
