3rd Columbus man sentenced in shooting death in Joplin

(AP) A third Kansas man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in the death of a Joplin man during a robbery.

Twenty-one-year-old Azaiah Forester, of Columbus, Kansas, was sentenced Monday in the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Taven Williams in January 2017.

Williams was killed when the three suspects and a fourth unidentified person went to the Joplin home of Paul Haney to rob Haney of marijuana. Williams was shot when he tried to help Haney, who survived a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

Two other defendants from Columbus, 21-year-old Brock Robinson and 24-year-old Erik Jones, were each sentenced previously to 15 years in prison.

Robinson claimed it was Jones who shot and killed Williams.