photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Major C. Edwards

Updated at 3:35 p.m. Wednesday, July 3

A Lawrence man who was on parole in connection with a 2006 killing was sentenced to more prison time on Wednesday for a 2023 incident in which he was charged with a sex crime that was later pleaded down to a nonsexual crime.

The man, Major Cornelious Edwards, 45, was convicted in 2010 of voluntary manslaughter in connection with the shooting death of Lawrence hip-hop artist Anthony “Clacc” Vital, 28, on Oct. 14, 2006, as the Journal-World reported. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and was paroled in 2022. Edwards had testified against his codefendant, Durrell Jones, and said that he only led Jones to meet Vital and that Jones pulled the trigger. Jones’ trial ended in a mistrial and the state declined to retry Jones while Edwards had already entered into a plea agreement with the state for his testimony.

Edwards was arrested while on parole on June 10, 2023, and charged with felony aggravated sexual battery, a midlevel charge that could have resulted in a minimum 10-year prison sentence and a requirement to register as a sex offender.

Edwards pleaded guilty in April to a reduced charge of aggravated battery with no sexual component. Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez issued a press release at the time of his plea that said Edwards on June 10, 2023, while naked, broke into a then 19-year-old woman’s bedroom and tackled her to the ground. Another woman was present at the time and intervened, then called the police, according to the release. Valdez said the plea agreement showed the office’s commitment to ensuring safety and holding violent offenders accountable.

“Our commitment remains unwavering to ensuring safety in our community and holding those accountable who commit violent offenses,” Valdez said in the release.

Judge Stacey Donovan sentenced Edwards on Friday to 21 months in prison and awarded him 389 days, about 13 months, of time served in the Douglas County Jail. She said that he would be eligible for 20% good time while in prison. If Edwards is granted that good time by the Kansas Department of Corrections, he will be subject to about four months of additional prison time.

Donovan said she hopes Edwards uses his prison time to think about his life choices.

“This crime was violent,” Donovan said.

The arrest affidavit was sealed early in the case, but the Journal-World has obtained a transcript from Edwards’ preliminary hearing in August of 2023.

The victim testified that she was living in an apartment complex on West Seventh Street and that Edwards was dating one of her roommates, whom she did not know well because she had just moved in about a week before the incident.

She testified that she was getting ready for bed when she heard a “banging” on her bedroom door.

“I went to open the door and I only peeked through, I didn’t open it fully, but when I did, I saw Major naked at the door so I tried to close the door,” she said.

The woman said Edwards forced the door open, damaging it. As he came into the room, she fell, and Edwards fell naked on top of her, she said. An officer later testified that the woman was about 5 feet tall while Edwards is 6 feet 4 inches.

“After bursting through the door, he kind of tackled me to the floor and I was on the floor and he was on top of me,” the woman said.

She said she struggled to get away but Edwards held her down and turned her over onto her stomach. She said that he was yelling that “his name was Major and that I should remember that” and that he was previously a member of Puerto Rican gangs.

She said she tried crawling away but he pulled her back underneath him and touched her beneath her clothing.

“I was kicking and trying to pull myself away from him but he kind of kept me still and he was putting his weight on me so I couldn’t really move,” she testified.

The woman said she apologized to Edwards for not knowing his name and asked him to please let her go.

Finally, Edwards’ girlfriend came into the room and tried to pull Edwards off, which the woman said gave her enough leverage to crawl out from under Edwards.

She said she crawled into a corner of the room and curled up into a ball while the girlfriend threw her her phone and advised her to call police.

The woman said Edwards was blocking the door as she called 911. She said that he continued yelling at her and she believed he started masturbating.

The girlfriend later testified that she did not remember much of the night in question because she and Edwards had spent the day drinking and using PCP.

Lawrence Police Officer Nick Pate testified that when he arrived at the scene Edwards was standing naked with his muscles clenched as two women cowered in the corner of the room. He said Edwards initially refused to comply with his orders until he drew his Taser.

“I produced my Taser based on his behaviors. I felt that appropriate. I asked him to come out of the room again and once he saw my Taser, he did cooperate with that and he exited the room,” Pate said.

After other officers arrived and took Edwards into custody, Pate said the woman gave her statement while shaking in fear. At one point when Pate was talking to the woman, Edwards made a noise in the other room and the woman “appeared to tense up and startle just from hearing that,” Pate testified.

Prior to sentencing Edwards, Donovan asked the state if the victim had provided a statement to be read at sentencing. Assistant District Attorney Samantha Foster said that the victim had not provided a statement and did not wish to be present.

“She would just like this case to be completed,” Foster said.

Edwards then told the court that he was sorry for his actions.

Besides the voluntary manslaughter conviction, Edwards has additional felony convictions for drug distribution in 2001 in Douglas County and battery on a corrections officer in 2015 in Pawnee County, Kansas. He was also convicted in 2008 in the U.S. District Court of Kansas for being a felon in possession of a firearm.