Douglas County home invasion defendant pleads guilty to lesser charge

Markcus Trey Sanders pleaded guilty in Douglas County District Court to attempted aggravated residential burglary in a 2022 Lawrence home invasion case that began with accusations of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated burglary. The plea shifted the case away from trial on the original gunpoint allegations, but Sanders still faces sentencing on Aug. 27, 2026, in a case that has stretched across four years and several court hearings.

Sanders, 32, entered the plea Thursday, June 25, and told Judge Stacey Donovan he was “very satisfied” with the deal. His attorney, Jessica Glendening, said she will file a motion before sentencing, seeking a departure from the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines. The guideline system weighs the severity of the offense and a defendant’s criminal-history score, which means the final prison term will not be set until the August hearing.

The case centered on a June 30, 2022, home invasion in the 3000 block of Bainbridge Circle in Lawrence. Prosecutors alleged Sanders and his relative, Chester Wendell Brockman, robbed a woman at gunpoint inside her home while she was there with her 2-year-old child. Douglas County officials arrested the pair after the invasion and a later traffic stop and car chase.

At a preliminary hearing, an officer testified that authorities found about 2 pounds of marijuana and nearly $2,900 in cash in Sanders’ car after a tactical stop. The men allegedly took cash and marijuana from the home. In November 2024, the victim testified that she feared for her life and her child’s life as the armed encounter unfolded.

A judge found probable cause in January 2025 to send Sanders to trial on the original charges, but the plea now leaves sentencing as the next major step. Brockman, the codefendant, was convicted first and is serving a 17-year sentence.

Sanders also entered a guilty plea the same day in a separate 2020 case to criminal possession of a firearm by a felon. In that matter, police found a handgun in his car during a Kansas Turnpike traffic stop, and Sanders had prior 2012 convictions for aggravated burglary and intimidation of a witness.