On a summer evening in Wichita, Kansas, the life of 25-year-old Erick Vazquez was tragically cut short. On June 17, 2017, the young man had simply gone with a friend to a strip mall on East 13th Street to buy cigarettes. As he waited in the driver's seat of his Nissan truck, a violent feud between rival gang members erupted into a hail of gunfire in the parking lot, and he became an unintended victim.
The shootout was the culmination of an ongoing dispute between two men, Jeremy Levy,
18, and Keandre Summers, 22. That evening, Levy was at a barbershop in the mall when he saw Summers outside. Feeling hesitant and mentioning his "beef" with Summers, Levy eventually exited the shop. An argument between the two quickly escalated, and they began firing at each other. Witnesses reported between 20 to 25 shots were exchanged, turning the parking lot into a war zone. In the crossfire, Vazquez was struck by three bullets and died at the scene. He was not involved in the conflict and was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The investigation that followed led to the arrests of both Levy and Summers. Police determined that the shooting was gang-related, with Levy being a member of the Piru Bloods and Summers a member of the Gangster Disciples. Both men were charged in connection with Vazquez's death. In August 2018, a jury found Jeremy Levy guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. The following year, in November 2019, KeAndre Summers pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and aggravated assault. He was sentenced to 14 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the senseless death of an innocent bystander.
