1 murderer, 2 child molesters sentenced to prison in Dunklin County

KENNETT, Mo. (KBSI) – Two child molesters and a murderer were sentenced to prison in Dunklin County.

Steven Michael Kirkwood, 38 of Malden, is sentenced to life in the Missouri Department of Corrections for the August 22, 2020 shooting of Ryan Lehnig in Malden. He was sentenced by Judge Robert Mayer after he pleaded to murder in the second degree without an agreement on the length of sentencing. He was set for a jury trial in May but decided to plead guilty instead of taking his case to trial.

Christopher Knuckles, 28, of Kennett, was sentenced to 30 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections for statutory rape in the first degree. Knuckles pleaded guilty without an agreement of how long his sentencing would be, for a trial that was set in May. To protect the victim, no further information will be released due to the nature of the charges.

Travis Crane, 32, of Kennett was sentenced to 35 years for statutory sodomy in the first degree. Crane also pleaded without an agreement about how long of a sentence he would receive. He was sentenced to 17-and-a-half years in the Federal Bureau of Prisons.