Records identify man arrested in beating death of woman

Law enforcement records show the man arrested in connection with the beating death of a 41-year-old woman Sunday night is Benjamin James Thomas.

Thomas, 43, was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail at 7:07 a.m. Monday on suspicion of first-degree murder, jail records show. Police have not released the name of his girlfriend, who was found in the yard near the garage she lived in with Thomas.

Thomas called 911 shortly after 10:30 p.m. Sunday and reported that a group of men had attacked his girlfriend while they were walking on South Broadway and brutally beaten her, police have said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene shortly before 11 p.m.

Officers could find no evidence of an assault where the boyfriend claimed it occurred, Wichita police Lt. Todd Ojile said Monday. The only evidence of an attack was found inside the converted garage the couple shared, he said, though officers did not know what was used to kill the woman.

Thomas is being held without bond, records show.

The death is the 26th homicide of the year in Wichita, police said.

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 8:10 AM with the headline "Records identify man arrested in beating death of woman."