KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former resident of a halfway house in Leavenworth who told police he needed to commit a crime to go back to prison pleaded guilty on Tuesday to attempted murder, prosecutors said.
Cameron Walton, 37, pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder of an employee at the Grossman Center, a residential re-entry center for people recently released from prison, Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson said in a news release.
On Dec. 13, 2016, Leavenworth police were called to the Grossman Center after an employee of the facility was beaten and unresponsive.
An officer spoke with Walton, who said he was being kicked out of the facility and had nowhere to go. He said he had to commit a crime to go back to prison, according to the news release.
The staff member survived but will have lifelong health issues due to the assault, according to Thompson.
“We hope for people to want to get out into the world and become productive citizens when they are released from prison,” Thompson said in the release. “This type of thing is the last thing we want to see.”
Walton is set to be sentenced on Feb. 7.
