photo by: Douglas County Sheriff's Office

Trong Turner

A man who was accused of barricading himself inside a Lawrence residence before setting it on fire in 2024 was granted probation on Wednesday after his felony charges were lowered to misdemeanors in a plea agreement.

Trong Do Turner, 28, was listed as living at a Kansas City homeless shelter when he was arrested in February of 2024 and was charged in two cases in Douglas County District Court. In the more severe case, on Feb. 26, 2024, he was alleged to have broken into an apartment just south of Sandra J. Shaw Community Health Park on West Second Street, barricaded himself inside and set fire to the building. He was charged with one felony count each of burglary and aggravated arson, as the Journal-World reported.

On Wednesday, Senior Assistant District Attorney Eve Kemple said that the state would dismiss those charges as long as Turner pleaded guilty or no contest to misdemeanor counts of criminal damage and trespassing instead. She said Turner’s other case, where he was accused of smashing multiple car windows in the parking lot of the Lawrence Community Shelter on Dec. 31, 2023, would also be resolved as part of the plea agreement.

In total, Turner pleaded no contest to four misdemeanor counts of criminal damage and one misdemeanor count of criminal trespassing. His attorney, Angelo Panas, said that Turner had spent the last few months at Larned State Hospital for mental health treatment and that he is now on a path to a better life.

Kemple said that she spoke to nearly every person involved in both incidents, and they all agreed that Turner needed treatment, not prison.

“They want him to get the mental health treatment he needs,” Kemple said.

After the plea, Hanley immediately sentenced Turner to six months in the county jail on each count, for a total of 30 months, or 2.5 years, and then suspended the sentence to 12 months of probation. She awarded Turner 429 days, 14.3 months, of time served against his underlying jail sentence.