Man gets life sentence for hit-and-run traffic death

A Wichita man convicted of killing a 34-year-old woman while fleeing police last fall has been sentenced to life in prison plus 89 months, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Javier S. Rizo, 23, was given the term Friday in connection with the Oct. 27, 2013, hit-and-run traffic death of Maria Martinez.

Martinez died after Rizo ran a stop sign at 24th and North Arkansas and slammed into her sedan with a van. Rizo, police have said, sped away from Old Town the morning Martinez died after police noticed a man wanted on two warrants get into the van.

Rizo fled but was arrested in January after Crime Stoppers received a tip concerning his whereabouts. He was convicted of murder and other counts, including aggravated battery and fleeing or attempting to elude police, at his July 31 bench trial.

Dan Dillon, spokesman for the district attorney’s office, said Friday by e-mail that Rizo will not be eligible for parole for 20 years.

“The 89 month sentence then begins if (Rizo is) granted parole,” he wrote.

The murder conviction tied to Martinez’s death is not Rizo’s first. He pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder as a juvenile in the 2007 killing of Gonzalo Gomez to avoid adult prosecution. As part of that plea, Rizo was sentenced to a detention facility until he was 22 1/2 years old, then to supervised release until he was 23.

Rizo was 22 when Martinez died.

This story was originally published September 5, 2014 at 7:30 PM with the headline "Man gets life sentence for hit-and-run traffic death."