In the late summer of 2024, the life of 39-year-old Kyce Barnes, a Black/African American male from Wichita, Kansas, came to a violent and tragic end. On the morning of August 21st, police were called to a vacant lot in the 8200 block of West Irving Street after a report of a suspicious vehicle. There, they discovered a white Mercedes with the body of a man in the trunk.
The victim, later identified as Kyce Barnes, was found wrapped in blood-stained bedding with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper and lower body.
The investigation quickly led detectives to the Deluxe Motel at 8401 W. Kellogg Drive, which they identified as the primary crime scene. It was in room 141 of this motel that the events leading to Barnes's death unfolded. Just hours before his body was found, Barnes had been released from the Sedgwick County Jail. He had a history of criminal activity, including drug convictions.
The investigation into the death of Kyce Barnes led to the arrest of 23-year-old Daitrez Birch. It was revealed that the two men were known to each other, and their families were reportedly close. According to court documents, the motive for the killing was connected to an 18-year-old woman who had been in a relationship with both men. Birch claimed that he had promised the woman's mother he would protect her. An altercation occurred at the motel between Barnes and the woman, after which Birch shot Barnes multiple times.
Following the shooting, Birch, with the help of others, cleaned the motel room and moved Barnes's body to the trunk of his own Mercedes. Two other individuals, Taryn Bowman and Demetrius Hill, were also charged in connection with the crime for concealing, altering, or destroying evidence. Bowman pleaded guilty and received a sentence of a year of probation.
Daitrez Birch was initially charged with first-degree murder. However, on Christmas Eve, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree murder, as well as aggravated battery and desecration of remains. In February 2025, a judge sentenced Birch to 272 months in prison for the murder of Kyce Barnes. In a final twist to this tragic story, Birch was found dead in his jail cell from an apparent overdose just days after his sentencing.
