Devawn Mitchell is appealing again — even though his sentence in the traffic death of Steve Henry five years ago has been vacated for now.
Mitchell was convicted of killing Henry during a crash on West Sixth near Chestnut in 2021 and was originally sentenced to 50 years in prison for the crime, committed after Emporia Police started and later ended a pursuit due to traffic and other driving concerns. Defense attorney Bryan Cox did not mention a reason for the upcoming appeal in his official notice to the court earlier this month.
Mitchell had a bench trial on his most recent appeal in September 2025, detailing complaints of ineffective counsel — both during his original bench trial through local attorney Rick Meier and during his first appeal from Kurt Kerns. The first appeal was denied by the Kansas Supreme Court, and the second was denied in part by Judge Lee Fowler, who says Meier acted reasonably with Mitchell’s ongoing concerns about competency during trial. However, Judge Fowler says Meier should have requested a mental health evaluation, which opened up “a real probability” that Mitchell would have been committed for care instead of confined due to mental illness including schizophrenia. Those two items mean Mitchell’s sentence must be vacated.
A new sentence date is pending. The process will also likely include a presentence evaluation.
