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A jury in Riley County District Court on Monday found a 21-year-old Fort Riley man guilty of first-degree murder for shooting a fellow soldier in Aggieville.
On Feb. 5, 2022, Tremelle Montgomery shot and killed 21-year-old Joshua Wardi with a 9-mm pistol in front of The Hi Lo bar and restaurant. Montgomery is also convicted of three counts of first-degree attempted murder and three counts of aggravated assault for trying to find Wardi’s friend after the shooting. Wardi’s mother became overwhelmed with emotion as Judge John Bosch read the seven guilty verdicts. She leaned over to cry in her lap, then stretched her arms to the ceiling and tilted her head back.
During closing arguments, defense attorney Brenda Jordan admitted Montgomery “probably” should be convicted of second-degree murder and three aggravated assault charges.
Montgomery, and two friends, Jordan Prather and Edward Wright, engaged with Wardi, Donovan Bastien, Jared Musgrave and Tyrece White in an argument across Moro Street. Jordan acknowledged that Montgomery said he retrieved a gun to intimidate the four men during the argument. However, she said evidence showed premeditation did not exist for a first-degree murder charge.
“Ladies and gentleman, a lot can happen in 12 seconds,” Jordan said.
“(Montgomery) told you he went to scare them off. The others ran off, but Wardi kept walking toward him. He didn’t see a gun, but he didn’t know what Wardi had.”
On the stand, Montgomery said that he thought the victim’s words meant Wardi and his friends would come back to shoot him, and because of this, he said, “So I shot first” during his hospital interview with Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent Nick Krug.
“(Wardi and his friends) said, ‘Wait right there, we got something for you,’” Jordan said, referencing her client’s testimony. “You know what that means where Montgomery’s from.”
On the night he shot Wardi, police shot Montgomery in the leg near Auntie Mae’s Parlor to get him to stop running. Medics gave him medication and then transported him to Topeka’s Stormont Vail hospital. Officers had cited Montgomery for minor in consumption earlier in the night.
Assistant county prosecutor Trinity Muth said during his closing arguments that although Montgomery had drunk two Four Lokos and received drugs to treat his leg wound, Montgomery’s recollection during the KBI interview matched external camera evidence.
“(Montgomery) did just what the defendant said he would do,” Muth said. “He wasn’t running from the cops. He admitted to Krug that he was going after the other guys. He hadn’t seen the security footage.”
“Joshua Wardi took his last breath because (Montgomery’s) a hot head,” Muth said. “This had nothing to do with being scared or protecting himself, but everything to do with ‘respect.’”
