Left inset: Juan Valenzuela-Silva/ (Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office). Right inset, from left to right: Daisy Valenzuela, Brenda Silva-Cervantes and Juan Valenzuela-Ayala (GoFundMe). Background: The home in Wichita, Kan., where Juan Valenzuela-Silva allegedly shot and killed his sister Daisy Valenzuela and their parents, Brenda Silva-Cervantes and Juan Valenzuela-Ayala (KWCH/YouTube).
A 21-year-old Kansas man is accused of gunning down his parents and sister inside their family home as a 2-year-old girl and two teenagers were inside.
Juan Valenzuela-Silva, of Wichita, allegedly shot and killed both of his parents, Juan Valenzuela-Ayala, 49, and Brenda Silva-Cervantes, 40, as well as his 25-year-old sister, Daisy Valenzuela, according to a Wichita Police Department press release.
All three were found shot to death at the family's residence in the 5000 block of East Blake Street in southeast Wichita, cops say. The three younger family members inside the house — a 17-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl — survived the shooting and were left unharmed, police said.
"From the moment our officers arrived, their first priority was making sure the 2-year-old and the two teenagers inside the home were safe," Wichita Police Chief Joe Sullivan said in a statement.
"This is an unimaginable tragedy for a family that lost three loved ones in a single act of violence," Sullivan added.
On Saturday, Sept. 26, police received a 911 call at 11:29 a.m. from a caller who initially did not respond to dispatchers but shortly afterward reported that people had been shot at a residence in the 5000 block of East Blake Street.
Wichita police officers responded to the home and discovered the bloodshed. Valenzuela-Silva was not there, and a search was launched, with police warning the public that Valenzuela-Silva was armed and dangerous.
Wichita cops used their Flock automated license plate reader system to track Valenzuela-Silva's vehicle and he was found south of Augusta on Saturday afternoon. Police booked Valenzuela-Silva on suspicion of capital murder, and he is expected to be presented to the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office for formal charging consideration in the coming days.
"Our family has experienced a loss that no family should ever have to endure," a GoFundMe says about the victims. "We lost three beautiful lives in one unimaginable tragedy. … How do you begin to say goodbye to three people you love at the same time? How do you find the words when your heart hasn't even had the chance to understand that they're gone?"
The GoFundMe added, "The circumstances surrounding this tragedy have left us with a kind of heartbreak that is difficult to comprehend."
Police have not released a motive for the killings.