‘Blessed us’: Slain Wichita woman went from homeless to helping others

Mariana “Mari” Christian went from sleeping on a park bench in downtown Wichita, where she would set her alarm for every 10 minutes to check her surroundings, to years of stable housing and faithfully serving children, including at her church.

Her life, family and friends say, was one of hope.

She had a traumatic childhood that included being adopted from Romania to aging out of foster care in Kansas. She sought God along the way and found Christian women who poured into her.

The 31-year-old, in turn, poured back into others.

“She helped me a lot with mental health and everything,” said 16-year-old Alissa Johnson, who ran away from home in 2023 and early 2024. Christian texted with her regularly and reassured Johnson she was there for her. “I came back home just so she didn’t have to worry about me anymore.”

Johnson added: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”

Christian’s body was found Tuesday in Cottonwood Park in east Wichita.

Court records show the 31-year-old Wichita man charged in her death had been evicted from his apartment in July. He had been staying in Christian’s apartment.

Family and friends say she was helping him get back on his feet.

“She was such a loving person that even if she was here she would 110% forgive him and try and win him still,” said Mariah Arriaga, who went to Glorious Bible Church with Christian, and whose four boys Christian loved.

The oldest, Lucas, would always pick her up during their weekly Bible study. The children at the study and church were drawn to her. At 4-foot-11, she disappeared among the teens in her church groups.

Friends and family say her own childhood, which included living with 20 other adopted siblings, influenced her love for children.

A private burial was Friday morning. A memorial service is still being planned and will be announced at a later date.

Adoption from Romania

As a toddler, she was put up for adoption from Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania. She learned why and reconnected with her biological family for the first time in June.

She was adopted by a family in California, where she lived for a short time before they gave her up to another family in California. She was adopted into that family, with 20 other siblings, in 1999, according to older brother Samuel Christian.

He remembers she was very petite, even at a young age. He and two of his biological siblings had been adopted from the same city in Romania as Christian.

He said she was “very, very outspoken” and would be clear to let their parents know when someone was being blamed for something they didn’t do.

Younger sibling Zebib Christian also remembers that she “always without a doubt” stood up for any sibling being picked on.

Mari Christian eventually ended up in foster care in Kansas where she went to different homes before aging out of the system. She ended up battling homelessness and mental health issues.

One of many turning points for her was when she found mentorship from Debbie Matthew, who, along with her husband, John, Christian treated as her parents. They, in turn, called her a “bonus daughter.”

Finding support

In 2015, Debbie Matthew was volunteering with a program through the Wichita Children’s Home that targeted homeless youth when she met Christian.

Matthew helped in an area of the program that offered clothing for the youths. She saw Christian come in about once a week. Soon, they were paired through a mentorship program.

They went to Bible studies together and Matthews had her over regularly for meals and holidays.

Eventually, Christian started to realize that the Matthews were not going to leave her. She started to look at them and treat them like parents.

One Mother’s Day, she got Debbie Matthew a mug that said, “All you need is mom.” She called John Matthew any time she had trouble: A flat tire, car repairs or anything else — he was at her apartment trying to fix the lock on a door just days before she went missing.

He went with her recently to an auto repair shop after her vehicle was hit in June.

“(I didn’t) want her to be taken advantage of,” he said.

At the Bible study through His Helping Hands, she also connected with Jenna Powers, a member of Glorious Bible Church, who invited her to a weekly Bible study, which eventually led women in that group to invite Christian to their church.

It was 2022.

She was shy and reserved at first. But that soon changed.

She started giving big hugs, something she was well known for, and formed special bonds with the children. When the adults would enjoy fellowship at the Bible study with games, she often opted to play with the children.

“She was just a ball of energy. She was always smiling and laughing and bouncing around. She’d run up to you and just give anybody and everybody a hug,” Powers said. “I think kids gravitated to her because she was that way … but at the same time, I think they gravitated to her because she was little like they were … she really had a heart for kids and young people … and they really loved her too.”

Soon, in addition to weekly Bible study and church, she started serving monthly in the children’s ministry.

A noticeable transformation was happening in her life.

John Matthew summed it up best, recalling watching the Kansas City Chiefs in the different Super Bowls. During the 2020 game against the San Francisco 49ers, when the Chiefs fell behind late in the game, she was hiding her face and “writhing on the floor in pain, in agony,” he said.

When the Chiefs were trounced by the Philadelphia Eagles in February, she kept her cool.

He said she was passionate, a “little firecracker.”

Debbie Matthew said Christian was volatile when they first met, but changed as she grew in her faith and her trust of the people who were supporting her.

“It makes me smile to think of the transformation that has occurred from her over the years,” she said.

John Matthew said that given all Christian went through, most people would be “bitter and twisted.”

“But she wasn’t,” he said. “She had a big heart and I think she was informed by her faith in Jesus Christ. She was trying to do what Jesus would have her do.”

He started tearing up.

“Love others,” he said.

Growing her family

Mariah Arriaga said Christian soon became family. She loved Arriaga’s boys and would always bring them gifts — she didn’t miss their birthday parties.

“She was always hanging out with my kids. She loved my boys,” Arriaga said. “She was part of the family, so we got close pretty quick.”

She said her oldest, 8-year-old Lucas, would always try, and briefly could, pick her up at their Bible studies on Thursdays.

Debbie Matthew remembers Christian always being thoughtful with gifts. Christian gave her flowers every year on the anniversary of her mother’s death.

Arriaga said Christian always had a heart for the homeless and people struggling with their mental health.

“She has a heart of gold,” she said. “She has a heart for people who are homeless or who have addiction. That is her calling. She wants to help people like that … and she just wants to spread the gospel. And she wants to help them the way she was helped.”

Johnson, when she ran away, said Christian constantly texted her and checked in on her and reassured her she would come get her whenever she would let her.

“It made me feel like someone was actually there and understood,” she said.

When she did come back home, Christian would come pick her up and they would hang out and watch movies and eat pizza.

“She was like a sister to me,” Johnson said, adding that they would have long conversations at church and always hugged each other.

Through the church, Christian met Stella Maxwell when she came to speak during a women’s conference.

Maxwell, who is from Romania, taught people about their identity in Christ. The night before, she bought a mirror and wrote on it words that people in Christ are, including adopted and beloved.

During the sermon, she held up the mirror to Christian, whose story she did not know. She asked her what she saw. Christian described her physical self; Maxwell asked her to repeat the words that were written on the mirror.

“She just broke down,” Maxwell said, adding that she learned after Christian’s death that she still had the mirror, which Maxwell had given her.

That night, the two spent hours together talking as Christian learned more about her heritage. Earlier this year, after an adopted sibling connected with their biological family, Christian also connected with her biological family.

They spoke for the first time via Facetime in June.

Christian learned her biological parents already had nine children before her mother had a stroke while giving birth to her. They could not take care of her, so she went to an orphanage.

The family was working on getting Christian’s birth certificate so she could get a passport to visit, Maxwell said.

Maxwell said Christian’s biological family lived in severe poverty. After the call, Christian’s first words to Maxwell were about how she could help them.

Maxwell said that next week she plans to tell Christian’s biological family what happened.

Helping a stranger

Kyle Bearden had been evicted from his apartment in July, court records show. The 31-year-old has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder in Christian’s death.

Police said Bearden was living at Christian’s apartment in the 1200 block of South Paige before she went missing July 19. Police say there was evidence of foul play at the apartment; Christian was fatally shot and her body was left in the park.

Family and friends say she was helping Bearden get back on his feet by letting him stay there.

Debbie Matthew had gone to pick her up on July 21 when Bearden answered the door. Christian’s vehicle was in the repair shop after someone had hit her in June.

Bearden told Matthew that Christina hadn’t been there since July 18.

Matthew knew something was wrong; Christian did not just disappear.

Friends said they saw Bearden for the first time on July 13, when he was with her for two church-related events. He was with her when she picked up a friend’s son from the church after Bible camp, Powers said.

And he was with her that night at a fellowship event at Carousel Skate Center, Arriaga said. She said he showed up with a boombox and acted strangely.

No one was surprised to hear that Christian would allow a struggling person into her home.

Christian had once told Debbie Matthew that she had saved her life.

“It was really God who saved her by bringing people into her life to be his hands and his feet,” she said. “Our lives are a lot richer for having her the last 10 years.”

Matthew said Christian helped change the way she viewed people in hardship. She said everyone has a story and to take the time to get to know it.

“She has probably blessed us more than we blessed her,” Matthew said. “I am sure she has.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2025 at 5:08 PM.