WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — We are finally learning what led to the death of a 17-year-old Wichita boy in February. It comes as a 15-year-old is sentenced for his murder. Prosecutors say it all started with teens trying to shoot bullets into the ground.
On Feb. 2, Julio Ruiz was shot while in the 100 block of N. Zelta in east Wichita. The district attorney’s office says Ruiz was one of five boys who talked about shooting bullets into the ground.
Ruiz had a pistol and fired once into the ground. A 14-year-old boy also had a pistol and fired three or four times.
“Witnesses say as the suspect fired his gun, it swept toward Ruiz, and bullets struck Ruiz,” the DA’s office said in a news release.
Ruiz died from his wounds.
The 14-year-old’s gun was later tested at the Wichita/Sedgwick County Law Enforcement Firearms Range. Prosecutors say the tests showed the weapon fired like a normal handgun, and there was nothing that would have caused it to recoil.
The suspect, who is now 15, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month. On Thursday, District Judge Patrick Walters gave him the maximum penalty in the Juvenile Court system. The teen will be in juvenile corrections until he is 22 and a half years old. After that, he will enter aftercare until he is 23. Aftercare is the continued supervision of a juvenile offender during their reintegration into the community.
KSN News does not release the names of juvenile suspects unless they are charged in the adult court system. This juvenile was not.
