Police release name of woman killed Friday in murder-suicide

Wichita police on Monday released the names of the two people who died in a murder-suicide Friday morning.

Maria Salas, 47, was at home in her duplex in the 1500 block of South Goebel when her ex-husband, Carlos Salas, showed up shortly before 7:30 a.m. on Friday to drop off some property, Officer Charley Davidson said.

Their divorce was finalized only months ago. Police say an argument preceded the deadly shooting, though the couple’s daughter — who was home at the time and heard the shots — said Monday on her Facebook page that no verbal clash preceded the shots.

After Carlos, 46, pulled out a gun and shot Maria several times in the upper torso, he turned the gun on himself. Their daughter called 911 at about 7:30 a.m. and officers arrived to find her father dead at the scene and her mother in critical condition.

Maria Salas was taken to a hospital, where she died later on Friday morning. A GoFundMe account set up to raise money for funeral expenses had received more than $5,700 as of noon on Monday.

She is the 13th homicide victim of the year in Wichita, Davidson said.

Though police identified her as Maria Salas, her best friend said everyone knew her by her middle and maiden name: Lourdes Hernandez.

“Everyone loved her, everyone wanted to be around her,” Jonas said. “She was an infectious, contagious, happy person.

“She was absolutely one of those people who gave 150 percent of herself from the most genuine place you can imagine,” she said. “Her kids were her world.”

Carlos Salas had grown increasingly depressed over the divorce and the little time he was able to spend with the two children he had with Lourdes Hernandez, Jonas said.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Police release name of woman killed Friday in murder-suicide."