Second man arrested on suspicion of murder in Wichita erotic sports bar shooting
A second man has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Austen Wright outside a south Wichita nightclub.
Mario Sandoval Jr., 26, was arrested Wednesday and booked into Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, jail records show. He is the second man arrested in the case.
Hernan Quezada, 25, was arrested Monday at his home in the 800 block of north Crestway. He is being held at Sedgwick County Jail and his bail has been set at $1 million.
Court records show Quezada pleaded guilty in 2014 to assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, part of a 2012 federal RICO sweep in Dodge City that led to the indictment of 23 alleged members of the Nortenos gang. As part of his plea, Quezada admitted to being a member of the Diablo Viejos street gang, which is affiliated with the Nortenos.
Police have not said if the shooting was gang related.
At 1:56 a.m. on Sunday, police were called to Vixen’s Erotic Sports Bar, a club in the 200 block of West Harry, police said. When officers arrived, they found a 24-year-old man in the back parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds.
The man who was shot was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said. The man was later identified as Austen Wright of Wichita.
This is the second time someone has been killed in a shooting near Vixen’s this summer.
On June 30, 29-year-old Michael Maxwell was sitting in a vehicle in the 1500 block of south Water when a sport-utility vehicle pulled up beside him and someone inside the SUV fired several shots into Maxwell’s vehicle, hitting him multiple times, Lt. Todd Ojile said.
Police said they believed Maxwell’s shooting was a targeted attack. He was in Old Town earlier in the evening when he and a group of other men got into an altercation. He later went to Vixen’s and was later shot on the street near the club, Ojile said.
Wright’s death is Wichita’s 33rd homicide this year. Seven homicide cases in Wichita remain open, Officer Charley Davidson said.
This story was originally published August 16, 2018 at 7:41 AM.