Wichita teen sentenced for killing two other teens during meet-up to trade guns
A 16-year-old Wichita teen has been ordered to serve more than 21 years in prison for killing two other Wichita teens in 2024.
Elias Cerda was 14 when he fatally shot 14-year-old Emoni Shears and 19-year-old Jhiquez D. Roberts on Jan. 26, 2024, while they were all in a Chevrolet Tahoe in the 5200 block of East Kensington, near 13th Street and Oliver. A probable cause affidavit says the teens agreed to meet to trade guns. Prosecutors alleged Cerda got into the SUV intending to rob the others.
But Cerda told police he shot Roberts out of fear after Roberts pointed a gun at him and then shot Shears when Shears reached for Roberts’ gun, according to the affidavit.
Cerda told his grandfather and mother what had happened afterward and, with the help of another person, they contacted police, the affidavit says.
The shooting was reported shortly before midnight on Jan. 26, 2024.
The wounded teens drove to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital for help and died there on Jan. 27, 2024, from multiple gunshot wounds, including to the head and neck, according to their autopsy reports.
Cerda was initially charged in juvenile court with two counts of first-degree felony murder and one count of aggravated robbery. His case was later moved to adult court. He has a prior conviction for criminal use of weapons in a 2023 case, court records show.
Cerda pleaded guilty on Nov. 24 to voluntary manslaughter, second-degree murder and attempted aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to 260 months in prison on Tuesday by Sedgwick County District Judge Christopher Magana, Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Lyndsee Stover said.
