Victims identified in downtown Wichita hotel homicide

Update 10:15 a.m. Friday:

Police identified the victims as 27-year-old George Kirksey and 22-year-old Alicia Roman.

Original 12:30 p.m. Thursday:

A 27-year-old man and 22-year-old woman were killed in their downtown Wichita hotel room on Thursday morning, making it the first criminal homicides of 2020.

Officers were called at around 12:20 a.m. to the Hotel at Waterwalk, 711 S. Main. Witnesses told police they saw a man man wearing dark clothes running from the scene after shots had been fired. He was described as being roughly 5-foot-9 or 5-foot-10 with a medium build.

Wichita police Capt. Brent Allred said he thinks the victims, who were both from Wichita, were inside the hotel room when the suspect entered, fired multiple shots and then ran away. Police did not release the names of the victims.

Allred said the hotel door didn’t show any signs of forced entry. He didn’t think the crime was drug or gang-related — or random.

“Yes, we believe there is some kind of knowledge between the three of them, some type of acquaintance or had been together at a previous time,” Allred said.

Allred said the hotel has been “fairly quiet” in the past but officers have had recent homicides nearby in the 800 block of South Broadway.

“It is an area of emphasis that we have placed in the last couple weeks of putting more officers down in that area,” Allred said.

This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 9:05 AM.