On the morning of February 21, 2014, Efren Antonio Villarreal-Alvarado, a 43-year-old male employee of Santana Concrete in Wichita, Kansas, was fatally shot while sitting in his truck in the company's parking lot. His co-workers discovered him at approximately 7:15 a.m., still alive but with a gunshot wound to his chest. Emergency services transported him to a local hospital, where he died a short time later.
His former wife, Dawn Villarreal, later recounted the painful detail that he had been "alone and dying for 45 minutes" before he was found.
The investigation into the shooting quickly pointed to robbery as the motive. Police determined that Villarreal-Alvarado's wallet, keys, cellphone, and identification were stolen during the attack. Within days, authorities arrested two men in connection with the murder: Deon Nolan Hale, 40, and Donnie Lalonde, 33. Investigators stated that they believed the victim knew the suspects and had been specifically targeted. Both Hale and Lalonde had prior criminal records.
Donnie Lalonde and Deon Nolan Hale were both charged with first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Lalonde later pleaded guilty to lesser charges of second-degree murder and aggravated robbery. In October 2015, he was sentenced to 24 years and one month in prison. Deon Nolan Hale, who also used the alias Auriel Huntstwobears, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He received a sentence of eight years and four months in prison. Hale had a previous conviction for a 1997 murder. The sentences were met with disappointment from Villarreal-Alvarado's ex-wife, who expressed that she felt the justice system had failed his family.
