One of the men accused of killing Jon Bieker in the She’s A Pistol shooting in January is now claiming in court that he acted in self-defense and wants his first-degree felony murder charge dropped.

Deanthony Wiley, 20, and his private attorney have filed a motion in Johnson County District Court for immunity from prosecution on the first-degree murder charge, arguing that Jon Bieker overstepped his rights in defending his store and wife, Becky Bieker, when he shot and paralyzed Wiley. Jon Bieker was killed during the Jan. 9 attempted robbery of She’s A Pistol in downtown Shawnee, and Wiley is now arguing that his use of deadly force was justified in the situation.

Wiley’s private attorney, Kate Zigtema, of Lenexa, filed the motion on Dec. 3, one day before a planned plea hearing in which it was believed that Wiley would plead guilty to all of his charges. Previous indications were that Wiley was going to plead guilty as his attorney said they wanted to “spare the courts’ resources and spare the witnesses from reliving the traumatic events in court.”

Mediations over a suitable resolution, plea and sentencing recommendations have since broke down, leading to the filing of Wiley’s motion.

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According to police reports and court testimony, Wiley and three other men attempted to steal guns from the Shawnee store, hitting store owner Becky Bieker in the head and knocking her unconscious in the process. Jon Bieker then emerged from a back office with a handgun drawn, according to court testimony, and began firing at the alleged robbers. Jon Beiker was shot several times during the altercation and died from his wounds.

Becky Bieker said she has faith in the criminal justice system and that there will be justice for her husband’s death in the face of Wiley’s self-defense claims.

“Their plan didn't count on Jon fighting back,” Becky Bieker said in a statement on the She’s A Pistol Facebook page. “They do not get to now claim self defense just because Jon fought back, and they killed him for doing so.”

Wiley’s argument for self defense centers on the claim that current state law does not authorize use of deadly force for defense of property. According to Wiley’s motion, there is an acknowledgement that deadly force is permissible in the face of a threat to a person, but it argues that the defense of property or a workplace is more restricted.

While the motion also states that the general rule of law is that an aggressor may not invoke the protections of self defense, it argues that when the aggressor withdraws from confrontation and communicates their desire to surrender, the initial victim must then also terminate the use of force.

“In other words,” the motion states, “when the individual who began the altercation gives up, communicates the intent to surrender, and the other continues to use force, such initially lawful force exceeds the permissible use of force and then becomes unlawful in and of itself.”

Wiley argues in his motion that he surrendered when Jon Bieker came out of the store's back office and “specifically communicated his intent.” Despite that, the motion argues, Jon Bieker continued to fire and shot Wiley in the spine, paralyzing him. Wiley argues that because Jon continued to shoot, he “was entitled to use force to protect himself.”

Wiley also claims that the other suspects in the case were all shot in the back and were retreating themselves.

Becky Bieker said she is confident that the facts show that her husband’s actions were in an effort to save her life and were legal based on the threat in their store.

“The evidence will show that these men entered our business to commit a robbery.,” Becky Bieker said. “They had a plan. They had guns. They were prepared to kill to carry out their plan.”

A scheduling hearing is planned for Jan. 27. The District Attorney's Office has not filed a response to Wiley's motion yet.

Other case developments

Meanwhile, two of the three other defendants in the case, who all also face felony murder charges, have also filed motions in their own cases.

Hakeem Malik, 18, and Nicquan Midgyett, 19, have both filed motions through their public defenders and in hand-written pro se letters from jail requesting that their cases be severed or tried separately from the other defendants.

Both Malik and Midgyett contend that the testimony offered in the other defendant’s cases will “try to spread the culpability for the death of Mr. Bieker to the other co-defendants,” according to a motion filed by Malik.

“The alleged shooter here, Mr. Wiley (sp.), would have a deep incentive to attempt to case Mr. Malik as deeply involved for the sole reason that, if successful, Mr. Wiley’s (sp.) involvement would then appear less acute; even though he was the alleged shooter,” Malik’s motion states.

Malik has also filed a hand-written pro se motion for a change of venue because of the high profile nature of the case. He also says the he thinks the District Court judges are “engaged in a conspiracy with the Johnson County District Attorney” and are subjecting him to a “malicious and arbitrarily selective prosecution.”

“I adamantly (sp.) allege and believe that the presiding judge and the county in which he presides cannot and will not be fair, impartial and unbiased because of the court’s divided interests in public opinion and factual law,” Malik contends.

The District Attorney has yet to file a response to Malik’s motions. Each defendant is scheduled for a scheduling hearing or motions hearing in late January 2016.

Malik and Midgyett have also filed motions to suppress statements they made while being interviewed by police on the day of the shooting. Malik argues that a portion of his statements were made after requesting an attorney and the District Attorney’s Office has filed a response that corroborates his claim and will suppress about 10 minutes of interview time from evidence. Midgyett claims that did not knowingly waive his Miranda Rights while in the hospital and wants his statements made to police to be suppressed. The state has not filed a response to Midgyett’s request.