KSHB 41 reporter Alyssa Jackson covers Kansas City, Missouri. Share your story idea with Alyssa.
—
A Johnson County jury found Andrea Cothran guilty of first-degree murder Thursday for her role in the 2023 death of Fairway Police Ofc. Jonah Oswald.
Cothran was one of two suspects involved in a crime spree that started in Lenexa and ended at a Mission QuikTrip, where the second suspect, Shannon Marshall, fatally shot Oswald. Marshall was shot and killed by police.
Jurors spent part of Wednesday afternoon and several hours on Thursday deliberating before reaching the verdict just after 2 p.m.
In addition to finding Cothran guilty on the murder charge, jurors found her guilty on battery of a law enforcement officer, fleeing, theft and reckless driving. They found her not guilty of two other counts of theft and possession of a firearm.
Sentencing is set for July 8.
The trial was initially scheduled to start in 2024, but Cothran fired her attorney a month before proceedings, which pushed back the trial.
Cothran’s trial started May 4 with jury selection at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe.
KSHB 41 News reporter Alyssa Jackson has filed reports from the courthouse following the last several days of testimony.
During the first full day of testimony, the jury heard from witnesses and watched body camera footage showing Oswald’s last moments.
On the third day of proceedings, prosecutors presented additional dash camera and surveillance camera video of Cothran and Marshall at a Lenexa QuikTrip and during a police chase that traveled northbound on Interstate 35 through Johnson County.
On Thursday, May 7, jurors were sent home early after Cothran's lead attorney fell ill. The judge in the case ordered the trial recessed until Monday, May 11.
When the trial resumed on May 11, jurors were shown Oswald's body camera footage as he joined fellow officers inside the Mission QuikTrip in the search for Marshall.
On Tuesday, May 12, prosecutors showed jurors video of Cothran's interrogation with Lenexa police detectives.
—
