A 25-year-old man who shot a Kalamazoo Township police officer during a foot chase in 2025 will spend a minimum of 47 years behind bars, a sentence the department's chief called overdue justice for a crime that permanently altered the officer's life.
Circuit Court Judge Pamela L. Lightvoet handed down the sentence Friday morning after a courtroom packed with more than 20 law enforcement officers heard the wounded officer's own words read aloud by a fellow lieutenant. Kenyun Robert Smith, convicted last month on nine felony counts including assault with intent to murder, stood in shackles as the judge imposed 45 to 70 years for the lead charge, to run consecutive with a two-year felony firearms term. Additional sentences covered multiple firearms counts and three counts of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer.
Smith was mostly silent throughout the hearing. At times he waved to people he recognized in the gallery. His attorney argued on his behalf that Smith did not intend to kill anyone. The judge was unmoved.
Officer Finch believed he would die on a Kalamazoo sidewalk
Officer Evan Finch did not appear to read his own victim impact statement. Lieutenant Derek Thompson delivered it for him. The words were plain and difficult to hear.
Thompson, reading Finch's statement, told the court:
"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."
Finch's statement continued, laying out the full scope of what the shooting cost him and his family:
"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."
Permanent injury. A career disrupted. A family left dealing with trauma they did not choose. That is the toll of one midday shooting on a man who showed up for work to protect his community. Across the country, violence against officers on duty continues to exact a devastating price.
A domestic violence call turned into a midday shootout near a school building
The chain of events began around 11 a.m. on March 27, 2025. Officers responded to a domestic violence and felony assault call on North Kendall Avenue in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Former Kalamazoo Township Police Chief Bryan Ergang previously described what happened next: Smith fled the scene, and officers gave chase on foot.
As officers pursued him, Smith turned and opened fire. He struck Officer Finch. The shooting unfolded near the Kalamazoo Public Schools Administration Building at 1220 Howard Street, a location in the middle of a residential area, steps from a school district facility, in broad daylight.
An unnamed Western Michigan University police officer returned fire. Both Smith and Finch were hospitalized. The specific nature of Finch's permanent injuries and the extent of Smith's wounds were not detailed in court records made public.
The case went to a jury trial, which concluded last month. Jurors convicted Smith on all nine felony counts.
Kalamazoo's police chief asked the judge for a life sentence
Before Judge Lightvoet imposed the sentence, Kalamazoo Township Chief of Police Darien Smith addressed the court directly. He did not hold back about what the shooting meant for the officer and his family.
"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 went further. He asked 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."
The 47-year minimum means Smith, now 25, will not be eligible for parole until he is at least 72 years old. Whether that qualifies as the life sentence the chief requested is a matter of arithmetic. It is close. The federal conversation around penalties for those who target law enforcement has intensified in recent years, with the Trump administration highlighting its death penalty executive order for those who kill officers on duty.
Nine felony convictions and a courtroom full of badges
Smith's conviction sheet is substantial. Assault with intent to murder carried the heaviest sentence at 45 to 70 years. The consecutive two-year felony firearms term pushed the minimum to 47 years. On top of that, the judge imposed additional sentences for multiple firearms counts and three counts of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer. The full breakdown of each individual sentence beyond the lead charge was not specified in public reporting.
The courtroom scene itself told a story. More than 20 law enforcement officers filled the gallery, a visible show of solidarity for a colleague whose career was upended by a man fleeing a domestic violence call. Smith, shackled and largely quiet, offered no public statement of remorse. His defense rested on the claim, made through his attorney, that he never intended to kill.
A jury of his peers disagreed. So did the judge. Sentences of this length for violent felony convictions reflect a straightforward principle: when you shoot a police officer in broad daylight and a jury finds you guilty, the system should respond with force.
Officer Finch's impact statement made clear that the consequences of that March morning are not over for him. Permanent injury. Lost sense of safety. A family still carrying the weight. The law enforcement community in Kalamazoo showed up to that courtroom because they understand a basic truth that too many policymakers treat as optional: the people who run toward danger deserve a system that holds accountable those who try to destroy them.
Cases like this one are a reminder that accountability still works, when prosecutors pursue it, juries deliver it, and judges enforce it. The question, as always, is whether the rest of the country's criminal justice system is willing to follow suit.
Forty-seven years is not a slap on the wrist. It is a statement, and the right one.
