A 30-year-old Higginsville man facing felony charges following an incident on December 10, 2020, is going to be spending some time in state prison.

Kevin Lewallen was arrested and charged after he kicked in a door to a residence and attempted to forcefully remove his four-month-old child.

While officers attempted to put handcuffs on Lewallen, who was intoxicated, he resisted arrest. Officers placed him on the ground, where he continued to resist and an officer had to use pepper spray to get him to stop resisting.

Lewallen pleaded not guilty on May 3 to a Class D Felony for Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class E Felony for Resisting Arrest and misdemeanor charges for Domestic Assault in the Fourth Degree, Assault in the Fourth Degree and Property Damage in the Second Degree.

As part of a plea deal, which included the dismissal of some of the charges, Lewallen pleaded guilty to the Endangering and Resisting Arrest charges on June 7. He was sentenced to seven years on count one and four years on count two in the Missouri Department of Corrections, which includes being placed in the Institutional Treatment Center. The sentences are to run concurrently.