Man given life sentence for 2019 Topeka shooting

TOPEKA (KSNT) - A man has been sentenced for his part in a 2019 shooting that left one man dead.

The Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay says that Kristoffer Lee Klesath has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for at least 620 months or around 52 years. The sentence for all other counts was ordered to run concurrent. Klesath was charged with the following:

• Murder in the first degree, committed during an inherently dangerous felony
• Intentional second degree murder
• Aggravated robbery
• Criminal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon

Klesath was sentenced for his part in a 2019 shooting that left one man, Darton Fields, dead. On May 25, 2019, police were sent to 1235 SW Huntoon on a call of a shooting that had just happened. Upon arrival, police found Fields lying in a parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds.

Fields was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment but would later die of his wounds. The follow-up investigation showed that Fields was standing next to the building at the location of the shooting when Klesath approached him with a handgun in his hand. Klesath shot Fields multiple times at close range as Fields was attempting to draw his own firearm.

Klesath then took the firearm from Fields and fled. He was later identified in video surveillance footage that captured the shooting. He was taken into custody on May 28. 2019.

Klesath gave multiple versions of events to police, none of which matched the video surveillance. He was convicted on Feb. 18, 2022 after a four-day trial.