15-year-old sentenced to 8 years in juvenile detention for death of Wichita teenager

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A teenager who pleaded guilty to shooting another teenager was sentenced to the maximum sentence in the juvenile justice system.

15-year-old Talon Rico has been charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 2 death of 17-year-old Julio Ruiz.

On Thursday, District Judge Patrick Walters sentenced Rico to juvenile detention until he is 22 years old and to follow-up until he is 23 years old. Rico is now 15 years old.

Ruiz was shot and killed on February 2nd in the 100 block of N. Zelta in east Wichita. He was one of five boys who talked about putting a bullet in the ground.

READ MORE: 14-year-old arrested, teen killed in shooting in E. Wichita

According to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, Ruiz carried a 9mm handgun in a holster in his waistband, while Rico, then 14, carried a handgun in the front pocket of his hoodie.

Ruiz fired a shot into the ground, followed by Rico firing three or four times. Witnesses said when Rico fired his gun, “it slammed toward Ruiz and bullets struck Ruiz,” prosecutors said.

Ruiz ran a short distance before collapsing and dying.

Prosecutors said Rico’s gun was tested at the Wichita/Sedgwick County Police Firearms Range, where it was fired like a regular handgun and “nothing was noted to cause recoil.”

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