Man charged in hotel slayings killed because ex ‘found a new man’ affidavit says
The Jan. 2 double killing at Wichita’s Hotel at WaterWalk was the work of a jilted former boyfriend who didn’t like that his ex-girlfriend had moved on, according to court documents released Tuesday.
The documents — arrest affidavits that give new details in the capital murder and aggravated assault cases filed earlier this year against Kyle Delshawn Young — say the 33-year-old was upset that his former girlfriend, 22-year-old Alicia Roman, had “found a new man.”
The pair “had dated since high school” but ended the relationship “several years ago,” witnesses told police investigators.
A day before the fatal shooting at the downtown hotel, Young waited in the front seat of Roman’s car as she partied with friends in Wichita’s Old Town entertainment district and threatened her when she returned to the vehicle to leave, the affidavits say.
Witnesses told police that Young held Roman in a choke hold and put a gun to her head early on Jan. 1 until a friend of Roman’s convinced him to let her go. Young reportedly followed Roman to the hotel, where she had attended a party on New Year’s Eve.
He was told there “he should leave Alicia alone and move on.”
The affidavits say Young continued to contact Roman after their breakup, and she was worried that “Kyle might hurt her.”
After being threatened with the gun on Jan. 1, she told a witness she planned to move to Dallas.
But the move never happened.
At 12:19 a.m. on Jan. 2 officers responding to a 911 call about a shooting in Room 624 of the Hotel at WaterWalk, 711 S. Main St., found Roman lying facedown on a bed in the room’s main floor and 27-year-old George Kirksey lying across a doorway. Both were dead.
Officers also found six spent shell casings, narcotics, cash, jewelry, cell phones and a purse in the hotel room.
The 911 caller told police they were in the room with Kirksey and Roman when Young opened fire. The caller said Kirksey had gone outside to smoke and didn’t lock the door when he returned.
The 911 caller told police that a man — later identified as Young — barged in a short time later, fired two shots at Kirksey then approached Roman and fired two more shots at her.
After the shootings, the man walked out and shut the door behind him.
Later, Young reportedly told a witness during a car ride that he had “killed two people” because “his ex-girlfriend ‘Alicia’ found a new man to ‘pimp her out.’”
According to that witness, Young said “he went to the hotel they were in and shot the new man … then as Alicia was pleading with him he shot her.”
Authorities captured Young in July, months after issuing felony warrants for his arrest. He is facing charges of capital murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault and criminal possession of a weapon by a felon and remains in the Sedgwick County Jail on bonds totaling $1.6 million.
Young’s defense attorneys, who sought to seal the affidavits from public release on the grounds that publicity might lead to an unfair trial, declined to comment on their contents.
Young’s next court date is Oct. 13. If convicted of capital murder, he could face the death penalty.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 2:02 PM.
