In the early morning hours of December 21, 2023, the life of Deniq Ingram, a 23-year-old Black female, was tragically cut short in her Wichita, Kansas, apartment. A former Wichita State University student with aspirations of becoming a neurosurgeon, she was the mother of a three-month-old son. The cause of her death was a single gunshot wound to the chest.
The person responsible for her death was her stepfather and common-law husband, Larry E. Ingram Jr., who was 44 at the time.
In the apartment near K-96 and Rock Road, an argument was not what led to the fatal shot. Instead, Deniq had risen in the pre-dawn darkness to pump breast milk for their infant son. Larry Ingram told police he was awakened by a noise and, seeing a figure in the dark, fired his Glock 10mm handgun, fearing an intruder. He claimed he had called out for Deniq and received no answer, stating the shooting was a terrible accident and that he had killed "the love of his life."
Police, however, found inconsistencies in his story and arrested him at the scene. At the time of the shooting, Ingram was under a protective order that prohibited him from having any contact with Deniq. She was listed as a witness in a case where he was accused of sexually abusing her sisters over a period of years. Deniq's family believes that Ingram intentionally killed her to prevent her from testifying against him in that upcoming trial. The shooting occurred while he was out on bond for the sex crime charges.
Following the investigation, Larry Ingram was charged with second-degree reckless murder and violating a protective order. During his trial, prosecutors argued that his actions were reckless. They contended that he should have known Deniq was in the apartment and that instead of confirming who was there, he fired his weapon into the dark bedroom doorway. Ingram’s defense maintained that he was a terrified husband acting to protect his family from what he believed was a home invasion. In January 2025, a jury found him guilty of second-degree reckless murder, and they also determined the act was one of domestic violence.
In a separate trial that concluded just before his murder conviction, Ingram was found guilty of 17 sex crimes for the long-term abuse of Deniq's sisters. In July 2025, for the murder of Deniq and the sexual abuse convictions, Larry Ingram was sentenced to serve at least 160 and a half years in prison, ensuring he will likely spend the remainder of his natural life incarcerated.
