Wichita man guilty in July 2020 murder where victim was beaten, dumped in car trunk
A Sedgwick County jury deliberated for about two hours Thursday before convicting a man who participated in a brutal beating and murder at a south Wichita apartment in July 2020.
Jose Garcia-Martinez, 21, of Wichita, will be sentenced July 7 in connection with the death of 47-year-old Roy Hayden of Wichita. Jurors found him guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery and misdemeanor battery, said Dan Dillon, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.
Police have said Hayden was beaten in the head with a hammer and crowbar, punched, shot in the knee and choked during an hours-long assault at 840 S. San Pablo on July 1 or 2, 2020, then was dumped in the trunk of a Volvo later abandoned in the 1500 block of North Broadway.
Authorities found the car four days after a witness reported the killing to law enforcement. Hayden’s body was inside, bound and with trash bags covering his head.
The medical examiner’s office determined Hayden died from asphyxiation.
One witness told officers Hayden had begged for his life during the attack, an arrest affidavit released in the case says.
Garcia-Martinez is among several defendants prosecuted in connection with the slaying. His trial started Monday. Sedgwick County District Judge Kevin O’Connor presided.
