Wichita man who gunned down his wife after marriage fell apart is sentenced
A Wichita man who gunned down his estranged wife in the kitchen of her north-side home after their marriage fell apart in 2018 will spend at least 25 years in prison, a Sedgwick County judge ruled Wednesday.
Juan Carlos Caballeros-Yescas, 29, pleaded guilty in February ahead of his scheduled jury trial to one count of felony first-degree murder in the July 7, 2018, fatal shooting of 41-year-old Lucy Mojica of Wichita. He also pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated assault with a firearm and one count of aggravated burglary tied events surrounding the homicide.
Authorities have said Caballeros-Yescas threatened to kill Mojica if they weren’t a couple and told family, friends and a girlfriend that he’d shot her at 531 W. 17th St. He was on the run for nearly two years before law enforcement arrested him in El Paso, Texas, and extradited him back to Kansas to face charges in Mojica’s death.
Authorities say Mojica had 16 wounds and a bullet tangled in her hair. A witness told police she begged for her life before Caballeros-Yescas pulled the trigger, according to an affidavit released by the court.
District Judge Christopher Magana imposed a life sentence for the murder, 43 months for the burglary conviction and 13 months for each aggravated assault, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said. The terms will be served concurrently, or at the same time, John Waller said.
Caballeros-Yescas will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years, according to court records and staff.
