In the early morning hours of January 30, 2015, in Wichita, Kansas, the life of 23-year-old Sabryna Guerrero-Newman, a Black/African American female, was tragically cut short. Neighbors in the 1100 block of North Hydraulic reported hearing gunshots shortly before 8 a.m. Following the sounds of the shots, a man was witnessed carrying Guerrero-Newman's limp body from a house and placing her into her dark blue Hyundai Sonata before driving away.
This alarming scene prompted a 911 call, and when officers arrived, they discovered signs of a disturbance inside the home.
A search for Guerrero-Newman ensued, which ended tragically several hours later when her body was discovered in her abandoned car. The vehicle was found parked on 19th Street, where the road dead-ends near I-135, just a few blocks from where she was last seen. An investigation revealed that she had sustained two gunshot wounds to her abdomen. Guerrero-Newman was a single, hard-working mother to an elementary-school-age daughter and was employed as a paraeducator at Adams Elementary School. Her family described her as a loving and caring mother who did not deserve her fate.
The suspect in her abduction and death was quickly identified as her 22-year-old boyfriend, Darnell D. Hall. He was located and arrested in the parking lot of a Dillons grocery store at Harry and Edgemoor at approximately 11:10 a.m. the same day. Hall was subsequently booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Ultimately, Darnell D. Hall Jr. pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree reckless murder. In January 2016, a judge sentenced him to 15 years and 10 months in prison for the killing of Sabryna Guerrero-Newman. During the sentencing, it was stated that the fatal shooting occurred during an argument between the couple. While her family expressed their forgiveness towards Hall, they had hoped for a longer sentence for the man who took her life.
