By Brad Devereaux
mlive.com
KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Over 20 law enforcement officers sat in the courtroom as a judge delivered a decadeslong sentence for a man who shot a police officer.
Kenyun Robert Smith was sentenced to a minimum of 47 years in prison for the shooting of Kalamazoo Township Police Officer Evan Finch that occurred on March 27, 2025.
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After a jury trial last month, Smith, 25, was convicted of nine felonies including assault with intent to murder.
“I remember believing that if I lost consciousness, that would be the end of my life and I wouldn’t get to see my family again,” Lieutenant Derek Thompson said Friday morning in court, reading an impact statement written by Finch.
“I want the court to understand that this incident not only caused permanent injury, but also took away a sense of safety, altered my physical health, and disrupted my career, and inflicted severe trauma on my family and me,” Thompson said, reading the statement.
The mid-day shootout occurred near the Kalamazoo Public Schools Administration Building at 1220 Howard St.
Former Kalamazoo Township Police Chief Bryan Ergang said previously that officers were responding to a domestic violence and felony assault call at around 11 a.m. that morning on North Kendall Avenue and Smith fled the scene.
As officers chased Smith, he turned around and shot Finch, Ergang said. Another officer from Western Michigan University returned fire, police said.
Smith and Finch were both hospitalized as a result of the shootout.
The sentence handed down by Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet includes 45 to 70 years in prison for assault with intent to murder, running consecutive with a 2-year felony firearms sentence.
Smith was also sentenced for multiple firearms counts and three counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer.
Kalamazoo Township Chief of Police Darien Smith spoke before the sentence was handed down Friday.
“For Evan, March 27, 2025 , was not simply another day at work. It was a moment that changed his life. It changed the lives of his family, his loved ones,” Chief Smith said, asking the judge to send the convicted shooter to prison for the rest of his life.
“Evan should have been able to go to work that day and done the job he loved and return home safely. Instead, he was shot.”
Smith, in shackles, was mostly silent during the hearing, at times waving to people he knew in the courtroom.
His attorney said, on behalf of Smith, that Smith did not intend to kill anyone.
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