On the evening of July 24, 2023, 14-year-old Malachi Sicka was enjoying a family barbecue, celebrating his stepmother's 33rd birthday. Described as being in good spirits, he was joking around and was the life of the party. At approximately 9:45 p.m., the male teenager left his grandmother's house to meet a friend at Skyline Park, which was just a block away. His last words to his grandmother were "I love you." A short time later, around 10:00 p.m., his grandmother called him.
He answered, sounding distressed, and the phone went dead.
Wichita police received a call about a shooting at 10:12 p.m. in the 600 block of S. Laura. When officers arrived, they found Malachi in the 1100 block of E. Orme, directly across the street from the park. He had been fatally shot. Emergency medical personnel attempted life-saving measures, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. His stepmother, after noticing police activity near their home and not having heard from him, went to the scene and identified his body around 11:20 p.m. Family members believe he may have been robbed, as his cell phone was not found at the scene.
The investigation into Malachi's death led to the arrest of three teenage boys from Wichita just a few days later. The suspects, two 17-year-olds and a 15-year-old, were taken into custody on suspicion of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, and criminal use of a weapon. The case was then set to be presented to the District Attorney's office for formal charges. Malachi, who had attended Hamilton and Allison middle schools, was about to start high school and had aspirations of becoming a welder, a trade his father was involved in. His family remembers him as a boy who enjoyed playing sports, video games, and rapping.
