Boyfriend shot girlfriend in apparent murder-suicide, Wichita police say

Wichita police are investigating an apparent murder-suicide that happened during a domestic violence incident early Tuesday morning.

Officers were called at around 5:10 a.m. to an unknown call for police at a home in the 5800 block of East Skinner, near Mt. Vernon and Edgemoor. They found two people inside with gunshot wounds and they were pronounced dead at the scene, Officer Charley Davidson said in a news release.

Investigators determined 33-year-old Cherie Short was shot and killed by her boyfriend, 44-year-old Robbie Urbano, Davidson said. Urbano then died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Before killing himself, Urbano called a family member asking her to pick up children due to an emergency. No children were hurt.

The family member called police, and officers found the family member and young children outside the home. The officers saw signs of a disturbance inside, so they forced entry for a welfare check, Davidson said. That’s when they found the bodies.

Police said that Urbano was facing alleged federal charges, but did not elaborate. Public records do not show any recent charges filed against him in U.S. District Court in Kansas.

Tuesday’s incident marks the sixth domestic violence homicide in Wichita this year.

Previous domestic violence homicides include the March 28 killings of mother and daughter MicKayla and Natalya Sorell, the Feb. 12 death of Amare Holt and the Jan. 2 double homicide of George Kirksey and Alicia Roman at Hotel at WaterWalk. Guns were used in all of the slayings.

Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker of The Eagle

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 1:06 PM.