Three people charged with murder in gang killing of Wichita high school student

Three people have been charged with murder in the August gang killing of a Wichita high school student.

Eduardo Gallardo, 18, and Jesus Alvarez-Medina, 20, were charged with murder Friday in Sedgwick County District Court, records show. A third person has been charged with murder in juvenile court.

The Eagle typically does not name juveniles charged with crimes.

The charges stem from the Aug. 4 death of Ramiro Antonio Valdez Jr. He was a 17-year-old boy who was set to start his senior year at North High School and worked as a landscaper, his obituary states.

Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred previously said that Valdez was driving downtown in a blue 2003 Chevrolet Silverado at around 2:35 a.m. that day. A black pickup truck started to follow the Chevy on Central near Washington. Someone inside the pickup shot a rifle multiple times at the Chevy.

Valdez was hit and later died at a hospital. Two other teens in the Silverado were not hurt.

“We know over the past two years there’s been a gang feud going on, which this is part of,” Allred said at the time.

He added that some of the city’s other shootings are also linked to the warring gangs and some of the people involved have committed other serious violent crimes in Wichita.

“We know that the majority of the people involved in this incident — which there are multiple — most of them are either documented gang members or associates to gang members or have ties to gang members,” Allred said.

Gallardo had been arrested the same day of the shooting, but had been out of jail before he was arrested again on Saturday after prosecutors filed charges and a warrant was issued. He is charged with three felonies: first-degree murder, criminal discharge of a firearm and aggravated assault. He remains in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of a $500,000 bond.

Alvarez-Medina, who has not been arrested, is charged with the same three felonies. A warrant for his arrest has been issued, which lists his bond as $500,000.

The juvenile who has been charged in a separate juvenile court case also faces the same three felony charges.

This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 10:05 PM.