‘He was my father figure’: Remembering man fatally shot at Wichita motel

After a long day of working outdoors this summer, Jose Lumbreras Sr. would often go to the homes of Irene Aguilar or Marielena Aguilar to help them with home projects.

He was helping with sod at one of their homes, and painting at another.

Lumbreras had been in the 30-year-old twin sisters’ lives since they were little girls. He was a longtime partner of their mother.

“He was my father figure,” Irene Aguilar said. “He was a man that pretty much raised me … showed me what a father should do. He was there raising my siblings. Mine was never around.”

Marielena Aguilar recalled how he helped teach her how to ride a bike as a child and spent hot evenings after work repainting her home this summer.

“He was just a wonderful guy,” she said.

Lumbreras’ two children recalled him as a loving and supporting father.

The 50-year-old was found fatally shot early Monday just outside a motel room on Broadway. Police have arrested two people: 50-year-old Monicie Nena Ramirez, who has a listed address at a motel a block away from the killing, and 63-year-old Kevin Lynn Harris, who was arrested at his home in Lawrence after a standoff with police.

Harris has been charged with intentional and premeditated first-degree murder. It didn’t appear Ramirez had been charged as of Friday afternoon; she was arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in the commission of a felony.

Police have not said why Lumbreras was killed.

Family said that when they went to the motel after his death, someone staying there told them Lumbreras had been robbed.

“They took his wallet,” Irene Aguilar said.

They said he was temporarily staying at the motel after losing power at his home.

The victim’s son, Jose Lumbreras Jr., 19, and the Aguilars said he would call often and check up on them. He also always jumped to help them with any projects.

Jose Lumbreras Sr. was good with his hands, a jack of many trades.

Working hard was just part of life growing up on a family ranch in Zacatecas, Mexico.

“He loved horse races, he loved horses,” his son said, adding the father often wore a cowboy hat. “He loved being a cowboy.”

In addition to being a cowboy, he liked “having a Modelo with his friends, and watching Tom & Jerry cartoons,” his obituary says.

He came to Wichita as a teen, after high school, looking for a better life. He had some family already living here. He started to work construction and sent money back home to family.

Here he met Irene Vega, his longtime partner, and the two started a family. They bought a home near Washington and Harry, where Vega, the younger Lumbreras and his two half-brothers still live.

The son said his dad was a father figure to his half-brothers as well.

Jose Lumbreras Sr. did all he could to improve the century-plus old home: He redid the plumbing, put in drywall and even took on the arduous project of redoing the driveway.

He also had both of his children put their footprint and name on it when the cement was still wet.

Jose Lumbreras Sr. did all kinds of physical labor. Most recently, he worked as a brick layer for Heart Stone Construction, according to his obituary.

When he wasn’t laying bricks, he was often using his free time to help family with their own projects. This summer, he helped Marielena Aguilar repaint her house and Irene Aguilar redo her sod.

Afterward, he would come by to water it to make sure it was setting right and growing.

“He was a loving man that didn’t deserve this,” Irene Aguilar said.

Jose Lumbreras Sr., now a U.S. citizen, also had plans to return to Mexico for the first time since he left, his son said, adding that his grandmother’s health is failing and an uncle had recently died back in Mexico.

“He was very caring,” the younger Lumbreras said. “Emotional when he needed to be. He was kind hearted. The most selfless guy you’d ever meet.”

The family has set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses. A service is planned for Sunday.

“He was MY DAD,” Aracely Lumbreras, 20, wrote in the text for the fundraiser. “He was loved by so many. I can’t come to terms that this is my reality … I pray we can lay my father to rest. Any donations would be appreciated.”

As of Friday afternoon, the fundraiser had about 30% of its $4,000 goal. The fundraiser can be found at rb.gy/hjwo4.