A 21-year-old man from Wichita, Kansas, is accused of killing his parents and sister inside the family’s home while a toddler and two teenagers were also present.
Juan Valenzuela-Silva allegedly shot and killed his father, Juan Valenzuela-Ayala, 49, his mother, Brenda Silva-Cervantes, 40, and his 25-year-old sister, Daisy Valenzuela, according to a release from the Wichita Police Department.
Officers found all three victims dead of gunshot wounds at the family’s home in the 5000 block of East Blake Street in southeast Wichita. Three younger relatives who were inside at the time — a 17-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl — were not hurt, police said.
“From the moment our officers arrived, their first priority was making sure the 2-year-old and the two teenagers inside the home were safe,” Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said in a statement.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy for a family that lost three loved ones in a single act of violence,” Sullivan said.
Dispatchers got a 911 call around 11:29 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26. The caller didn’t say anything at first, but soon after reported that people had been shot at the house on East Blake Street.
When officers got to the scene, they found the victims but not Valenzuela-Silva, who had apparently fled. Police then launched a search for him, warning residents that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Investigators used the department’s Flock license-plate-reading camera network to track down his car, locating him south of Augusta later that same afternoon. He was arrested and booked on suspicion of capital murder, and is expected to go before the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office in the coming days so prosecutors can decide on formal charges.
“Our family has experienced a loss that no family should ever have to endure,” reads a GoFundMe page set up for the victims. “We lost three beautiful lives in one unimaginable tragedy. … How do you begin to say goodbye to three people you love at the same time? How do you find the words when your heart hasn’t even had the chance to understand that they’re gone?”
The fundraiser also states, “The circumstances surrounding this tragedy have left us with a kind of heartbreak that is difficult to comprehend.”
Police have not said what may have led to the killings.
