In the early morning hours of July 8, 2015, a birthday party at a house on the corner of Douglas and Estelle in Wichita, Kansas, turned tragic. Richard Romero, a 49-year-old Hispanic male, was attending the gathering when an argument broke out. Shortly before 3 a.m., Romero was shot in the upper chest. Medical personnel arrived at the scene, but his injury was too severe.
Doctors pronounced him dead approximately 15 minutes after the shooting.
The Wichita Police Department quickly launched an investigation into the homicide. Their efforts led to the arrest of two individuals in connection with Richard Romero's death. The first suspect taken into custody was 45-year-old Teveere Royce Bates. A second man, 52-year-old Isaac X. Riverson, was also arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder.
Following the arrests, the legal process began to unfold. Teveere Royce Bates was formally charged with intentional second-degree murder. Ultimately, a jury found Bates guilty of the charge. He was also convicted of possessing and planning to distribute methamphetamine. For his role in the death of Richard Romero, Bates was sentenced to more than 54 years in prison. In the case of the second suspect, Isaac X. Riverson, prosecutors decided not to file charges at that time, though the possibility of re-examining the case was left open if new information were to come to light.
