Parolee charged with murder in sawed-off shotgun killing of Wichita woman
A parolee suspected of killing a Wichita woman with a sawed-off shotgun was charged Thursday with second-degree intentional murder and criminal possession of a weapon by a felon, court records show.
Police arrested 27-year-old Isaac Julius Pankratz on Sunday at a south Wichita apartment several hours after officers found Sarah Phillips dead in a home in the 4900 block of East Murdock. Police went to the address in response to an unknown call for help and found the 36-year-old with head trauma. She was pronounced dead on site.
Investigators later determined Pankratz, an acquaintance of Phillips’, was at the home with her, fired a sawed-off shotgun at her and fled afterward. The motive for the shooting was unclear.
Pankratz, who has used the alias “Prodigy,” made his first appearance in Sedgwick County District Court on the charges Thursday afternoon. He is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of $200,00 bond and has another court date set for May 28.
The local public defender’s office, which has been appointed to represent him, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on the charges. Pankratz was paroled to Sedgwick County last month after serving part of a 30-month prison sentence for attempted robbery, corrections and court records show. His other prior convictions include aggravated assault, burglary and felony theft.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 3:32 PM.
