Jesse Lee McFall, 31, was fatally shot shortly before midnight on Thursday, January 11, 2018, in a west Topeka hotel. The shooting occurred in a room at the Best Western at 700 S.W. Fairlawn following an altercation. McFall was born in Topeka on September 21, 1986.

Two men, Logan Lee Able Bartley and Vincent Dean Gonzalez-Rook, were arrested and charged in connection with the killing. Prosecutors alleged they had gone to the hotel intending to rob McFall because they believed he had a large amount of cash. At trial the defendants disputed the prosecution’s account and said Bartley shot McFall in self-defense after McFall, allegedly armed with a lock-blade knife, threatened Gonzalez-Rook while on top of him.

After a nine-day trial the jury acquitted both Bartley and Gonzalez-Rook of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery but convicted them of felony theft. Gonzalez-Rook admitted taking McFall’s wallet, which contained $1,640, from the hotel floor after the shooting and called it an impulse. Does anyone have information about McFall’s activities that night or the hotel room altercation?