A Johnson County judge on Wednesday sentenced a Tennessee woman to life in prison after she was found guilty of felony murder in the 2023 killing of Fairway Police Officer Jonah Oswald.
Johnson County Judge Michael P. Joyce of Division 15 issued the sentence to Andrea Rene Cothran, 35, of Goodlettsville, Tennessee. Cothran will be required to serve 25 years before she is eligible for parole. (It’s often referred to as a “Hard 25” sentence.)
Cothran is also serving a consecutive 10-month sentence for a count of fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and three other concurrent sentences for three other counts.
Joyce denied the defense’s motions for mistrial and motions for a new trial on Wednesday, before sentencing Cothran.
Oswald killed in August 2023
The sentencing comes three years and one week after the Aug. 6, 2023 standoff inside the restrooms at a QuikTrip on Lamar Avenue in Mission.
According to investigators, Shannon Wayne Marshall, 40, shot and killed the 29-year-old Oswald, who had responded to the QuikTrip scene after a lengthy police chase that began in Lenexa.
Oswald died from his injuries the following day. He left behind a wife and two children.
Two months ago, a jury found Cothran guilty on several felony counts related to the events that led up to and included the killing of Oswald, even though she herself did not fire the shot that killed him.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris McMullin said during the sentencing that it was “a bit too much for [the Oswald family] to come to court today.”
Members of the Oswald family declined to comment for this story.
In remarks to the press at the courthouse Wednesday, Fairway Police Chief J.P. Thurlo said the police department is “grateful to see justice carried out through the judicial process” though “no verdict or sentencing can undo the pain of losing Officer Oswald.”
“There still remains deep loss within our department that we feel daily, and the community that we serve feels it as well,” Thurlo said.
Defense: “She’s not some monster”
Before sentencing, both prosecution and the public defenders made final arguments related to Cothran’s sentencing.
Carissa Leffler, one of Cothran’s two public defenders, said Cothran has endured a hard life, and that past tragedies and traumas caught up with her.
Jarrod Steffan, a Wichita-based psychologist who evaluated Cothran, diagnosed her with dependent personality disorder. People with dependent personality disorder have poor decision-making and problem-solving skills, as well as a deep reliance on others taking care of them, Steffan said.
Leffler said Cothran’s diagnosis is treatable, and “she’s not a complete lost cause.” Leffler also argued that Cothran was not the gunman and referenced character letters from Cothran’s friends and family that described her as caring and loving.
“She’s not some monster that aligns with murder,” Leffler said.
Judge: “You could’ve stopped”
For the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office, Kevin O’Connor argued that Cothran was on the run in 2023 after failing to re-file as a sex offender in the state of Tennessee.
O’Connor said that in the 2020 case in Sumner County, Tennessee, that led Cothran to be required to register as a sex offender, the judge asked why she engaged in sexual acts in front of minors and what she learned from it.
In response, O’Connor said that Cothran told the Sumner County judge that “it was just a very bad decision” and she learned to “choose my associates wisely.”
O’Connor said Cothran did not follow through with that, alluding to her connection to Marshall, who she was with the day Oswald was killed.
“She is deserving of a life sentence,” O’Connor said.
Prior to Joyce delivering the life sentence to Cothran, he told her that at multiple times that August 2023 weekend, “you could’ve stopped.”
“You were involved in a chain of events of mostly your own doing,” Joyce said, adding that that chain of events led to the deaths of both Oswald and Marshall.
The 2023 killing happened at a Mission QuikTrip
Based on surveillance camera footage from Aug. 6, 2023, Marshall and Cothran stole a Jeep Grand Cherokee from a Lenexa QuikTrip parking lot.
Cothran ended up in the driver’s seat of that stolen vehicle and, after circling various hotel parking lots, drove northbound on Interstate 35 before crashing near the Lamar Avenue exit in Mission.
Marshall and Cothran ran into the nearby QuikTrip off Lamar Avenue and barricaded themselves in the men’s and women’s restrooms, respectively.
By this time, several law enforcement agencies, including the Kansas Highway Patrol and Fairway and Mission Police, had responded to calls for backup.
Cothran was removed from the women’s restroom by a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper and a Lenexa police officer. She was placed in handcuffs.
Meanwhile, a standoff with Marshall in the men’s restroom continued.
Then, Marshall, from inside a stall in the men’s bathroom, opened fire at police officers, including a gunshot that hit Oswald in the head. A Kansas Highway Patrol officer and Mission police officer returned fire at Marshall, killing him.
Oswald died from his injuries the next day, Aug. 7, 2023.
Hundreds mourned Oswald at a parade and vigil a few days later. A Fairway resident started a blue ribbon parade around the city and other parts of northeastern Johnson County to show support for Oswald and police.
Four months later, Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe determined that Kansas Highway Patrol Derek Keyser and Mission Police Officer Tyler Eddings were justified in opening fire at Marshall.
Cothran was found guilty in May
Nearly three years after Oswald was killed, a 12-person jury found Cothran guilty of felony murder.
That verdict came after a seven-day trial that included several days’ worth of testimony from witnesses. The jury arrived at the verdict less than 24 hours after closing statements.
Cothran faced eight counts, and the jury found her guilty of the most serious charge, felony murder.
The jury also found her guilty of battery of a law enforcement officer, fleeing law enforcement, reckless driving and theft of less than $25,000.
The jury acquitted Cothran of three charges, the possession of a weapon and two other felony theft counts.
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