18-year-old fatally shot in Kansas

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Summary: Topeka, Kansas, police tied 23-year-old Erwin Lockridge Jr. to the Aug. 23, 2026, killing of 18-year-old Joshua Anthony Stockman. He remains jailed on high bond.

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TOPEKA, Kan. — In the first minutes of Sunday, Aug. 23, 2026, Topeka police found Joshua Anthony Stockman, 18, unresponsive in southeast Topeka. First responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

Detectives worked the case through the week. Jail records show Erwin Tyrone Lockridge Jr., 23, of Topeka, entered the Shawnee County Jail at 1:50 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29. Topeka police said the booking grew out of the Stockman investigation.

Lockridge is being held on a $1.5 million bond in connection with first-degree murder, described as intentional and premeditated, and a count of recklessly discharging a firearm at an occupied dwelling. Reporting based on jail records said formal charges had not been filed as of Aug. 30. He also is held on a $75,000 bond in a separate case. Details of that second matter have not been released.

No motive was reported.

Stockman lived in Topeka. Relatives called him a son whose adult years had barely started. The day after his death, family members started a GoFundMe page seeking help with funeral and burial costs. They asked for enough money to lay him to rest with care. By the following afternoon, donations had already covered most of a $9,000 goal.

Police released his name on Aug. 25. Until then, he was listed only as an unidentified shooting victim.

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Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Sources/related links:

Topeka police identify Stockman
WIBW: arrest of Erwin Lockridge Jr.
KSNT: police arrest in Stockman case
Memorial fund
Crime Stoppers tips

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