Juan Valenzuela-Silva charged with capital murder in deaths of Brenda Silva Cervantes, Juan Valenzuela, and Daisy Valenzuela

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 30, 2026

WICHITA, Kan. – Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett announced today that Juan Valenzuela-Silva, 21, of Wichita, has been charged with the following:

1. Capital murder of his father, Juan Valenzuela-Ayala, mother, Brenda Valenzuela-Silva, and sister, Daisy Valenzuela.  
2. Aggravated Endangering a Child

The charges were filed today in Sedgwick County District Court. Valenzuela-Silva is being held in the Sedgwick County Adult Detention Center on a bond of $100,000,000. His first court appearance is expected to be the afternoon of Wednesday, September 30.

The count of Capital Murder charged in this case is defined in Kansas Statutes Annotated (K.S.A.), 21-5401(a)(6) as, the “intentional and premeditated killing of more than one person as a part of the same act or transaction or in two or more acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a common scheme or course of conduct;”

The penalty for Capital Murder is defined in K.S.A. 21-6617(a).  Summarized, a person convicted of capital murder faces a sentence of either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.  No decision has yet been made whether to seek the death penalty in this matter.

In Kansas, Capital Murder is defined K.S.A. 21-5401(a) murder can be charged as Capital Murder only under the following circumstances:

(1) the “intentional and premeditated killing of any person in the commission of kidnapping, . . .  when the kidnapping or aggravated kidnapping was committed with the intent to hold such person for ransom”; (2) the “intentional and premeditated killing of any person pursuant to a contract or agreement to kill such person”; (3) the “intentional and premeditated killing of any person by an inmate or prisoner confined” in a correctional institution; (4) the “intentional and premeditated killing” of the victim of certain sex crimes; (5) the “intentional and premeditated killing of a law enforcement officer”; (6) the “intentional and premeditated killing of more than one person”; (7)  the “intentional and premeditated killing of a child under the age of 14 in the commission of kidnapping . . . when the kidnapping or aggravated kidnapping was committed with intent to commit a sex offense upon or with the child”; and (8) or with intent that the child commit or submit to a sex offense.

Every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

Because this is a pending case, the District Attorney's Office will not make further statements beyond what is contained in public court filings.