photo by: Sara Shepherd

Danny W. Queen is handcuffed and escorted out of the courtroom by deputies on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, after being found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2017 shooting death of Bo Hopson outside a Eudora bar. Queen's trial spanned eight days in Douglas County District Court. Queen's defense attorney Dakota Loomis is pictured at left.

Story updated 8:28 p.m. Aug. 1:

Friends of Bo Hopson said they heard him ask an intoxicated man who had just been kicked out of a Eudora bar — and roughed up on the way out — whether he needed someone to drive or walk him home.

But the man didn’t answer, and instead pulled a concealed gun from his pocket and shot Hopson twice at close range. He then trained his gun on two other men nearby and tried to shoot them, too, but the gun jammed.

That man, Danny W. Queen, 37, of Eudora, had claimed he heard Hopson threaten him and fired in self-defense. However, at the conclusion of an eight-day trial Wednesday in Douglas County District Court, a jury found Queen guilty of second-degree murder in Hopson’s death.

Jurors also found Queen guilty of attempted second-degree murder for trying to kill bargoer Clark Orth and attempted voluntary manslaughter for trying to kill fellow patron Dustin Crowe.

Queen had been jailed on $1 million bond since the shooting. Following the jury’s verdict, Judge Peggy Kittel revoked his bond, and deputies handcuffed him and escorted him out of the courtroom. As he has throughout his trial, Queen sat quietly during the verdict and did not display outward emotion.

Kittel scheduled Queen’s sentencing for Oct. 9, as Queen’s attorney Dakota Loomis said he needed time to file sentencing-related motions beforehand.

More than 20 of Hopson’s relatives and friends were in the courtroom for the verdict, as were several of Queen’s.

Danny W. Queen listens as the jury’s verdict is read on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018, at the conclusion of his trial in Douglas County District Court. Queen was found guilty of second-degree murder in the 2017 shooting death of Bo Hopson outside a Eudora bar.

Prior to the jury’s verdict being read, Kittel acknowledged it was an emotional situation and warned everyone in the courtroom against any outbursts, of which there were none.

Jurors deliberated a total of about 9 1/2 hours before returning their verdict at about 5 p.m. Wednesday. Queen’s trial began July 23 and had been scheduled to conclude July 27, but stretched into this week.

The shooting happened shortly after 1 a.m. June 24, 2017, at D-Dubs Bar and Grill, 10 W. Ninth St. in Eudora. It was the night of Eudora’s annual CPA Picnic, and a live band had played atop a flatbed trailer outside the bar earlier.

Queen had been drinking heavily and got kicked out of the bar after making offensive comments to women inside. On the way out, he scuffled with other bargoers before being lifted onto the trailer in the parking lot to calm down.

Hopson was standing nearby when, after about 3 1/2 minutes on the trailer, Queen pulled his pistol from his pocket and shot Hopson once in the chest and then once in the arm.

Queen then pointed his gun toward Orth, who’d been talking to Hopson, and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn’t fire. When Crowe ran from the bar toward the commotion, Queen did the same to him, but again the gun only clicked.

No one — including Queen himself, who testified on Monday — disputed that Queen shot and killed Hopson.

The circumstances were what was in question at the trial.

Queen initially was charged with premeditated first-degree murder, and prosecutors had urged the jury to convict him of that.

“This is not a case of self-defense, this is not a threat that had to be neutralized,” Amy McGowan said in her closing arguments. “This is a situation where Danny Queen is in a bar, angry, drunk, humiliated and armed.”

McGowan said that after being “bested” at the bar and continuing to pick fights on his way out, Queen “retaliated.” She said that while Queen clearly was beaten by numerous bargoers after the shooting, witnesses contradicted Queen’s statements that he was punched and lost consciousness before the shooting.

McGowan contended that Queen premeditated the murder while sitting on the trailer, then took out his anger on the people nearby — starting with Hopson.

“He pulls out a gun nobody knows he has and shoots a man who is unarmed and doing nothing but trying to help,” McGowan said.

Queen testified that he never heard Hopson ask if he needed a ride. Rather, while lying on the trailer, Queen said he heard Hopson say, “I want to stomp on this guy’s head.”

Queen said he feared he would be “attacked” again by Hopson and other bargoers, and possibly killed.

Queen’s attorneys had asked jurors to acquit Queen because he acted in self-defense and had no other motive to hurt Hopson. Queen was alone at the bar that night, Loomis said, and when he got to the parking lot he was drunk, beaten, dazed, confused and scared.

“He had the right to use deadly force to protect himself,” Loomis said. “Danny Queen made a split-second decision … Under very difficult circumstances, he reacted — a reaction to protect himself.”

Witnesses said Hopson, 32, of Eudora, was known for his knack for being able to de-escalate fights at the bar.

photo by: Contributed photo

Bo M. Hopson

Hopson’s full-time job was working for Honey Creek Disposal Service, but he sometimes worked security at D-Dubs to earn extra money on the side, which his father said is what he was doing the night he was shot.

Scott Hopson, former mayor of Eudora, previously told the Journal-World his son underwent surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his chest, then another surgery to piece together a roughly 3-inch section of bone that had been shattered in his arm.

Everyone, including Bo Hopson, thought he was going to pull through. His father said Hopson was mainly worried about whether his arm would heal enough for him to return to work on the trash truck.

However, complications arose and Hopson died the day after the shooting.

In her closing arguments during Queen’s murder trial, McGowan highlighted a piece of testimony she said showed Hopson’s personality.

To a friend who visited him in the hospital before he died and talked to him about what happened at D-Dubs that night, Hopson said, “I’m glad it was me that got shot and not somebody else.”