Man pleads not guilty in killing twin, sister-in-law

A 25-year-old accused of killing his identical twin brother and his sister-in-law pleaded not guilty to capital murder Wednesday.

According to testimony at a hearing last month, Luis Alvarado-Meraz fired 21 shots from an AK-47 assault-type rifle or a handgun at 24-year-old Manuel Alvarado-Meraz and 22-year-old Lucero Rodriguez, killing them on Jan. 14 at the apartment the trio shared near Pawnee and Broadway. He is also charged with two alternative counts of first-degree murder in the slayings.

At an arraignment hearing Wednesday afternoon, Alvarado-Meraz denied the charges, and Sedgwick County District Court Jeff Goering set a trial for October 13. The date will likely be moved multiple times before the case goes before a jury, he said.

Also on Wednesday, Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett announced his intention to seek a separate sentencing proceeding if Alvarado-Meraz is convicted of capital murder at trial. The move preserves prosecutors’ ability to ask for the death penalty in the case.

The twins’ father found his son and daughter-in-law’s bodies after he went to their south Wichita apartment to check on them, according to testimony at the June hearing. Alvarado-Meraz was arrested 16 hours later.

This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Man pleads not guilty in killing twin, sister-in-law."