April sentencing set for Wichita man who gunned down estranged wife in home in 2018
A Sedgwick County judge has set an April sentencing date for a Wichita man who gunned down his estranged wife in her home nearly four years ago.
Juan Carlos Caballeros-Yescas, 29, pleaded guilty Friday ahead of his jury trial to one count of felony first-degree murder in the July 7, 2018, fatal shooting of Lucy Mojica, 41. He also entered a guilty plea to three counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated burglary tied to the homicide, said Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
He will be sentenced April 14 by District Judge Christopher Magana.
Authorities have said Caballeros-Yescas threatened and shot Mojica in her kitchen about a month after their marriage fell apart and he moved out of their home at 531 W. 17th St. in Wichita. Leading up to the shooting, he reportedly told her he’d kill her if they weren’t together and admitted to family, friends and a girlfriend that he’d pulled the trigger, an arrest affidavit released by the court says.
Authorities searched for Caballeros-Yescas for nearly two years before he was arrested on a warrant in El Paso, Texas, and extradited to Kansas to face charges. Originally, prosecutors charged him with first-degree premeditated murder, which carries a presumptive prison sentence of life without parole eligibility for 50 years.
Pleading guilty to the amended felony murder charge cuts the time until he’s first eligible for parole in half.
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This story was originally published March 2, 2022 at 11:21 AM.
